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Suburban Gems

Architectural bureau PANACOM introduced a project of a new suburban complex.

20 November 2014
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"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau

The “Polyana Samotsvetov” residential complex (rus. “Gem Meadow” - translator's note) is a new-type suburban housing project. According to, PANACOM chief architect Arseniy Leonovich this type of dwelling becomes more and more popular - it implies closeness to nature and, at the same time, insignificant distance from the city; a compact territory and specially developed landscape design, that becomes an integral part of the spatial composition of the project.


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau

In short, the new housing type combines both the features of a cottage community as well as of an urban mini-quarter. A 37 acres territory is built up with compact volumes of the dwellings (from four to seven floors). According to Arseniy Leonovich, these sculptural houses with a complex form of the facades remind faces of people and are always differently lit depending on the time of day and the season.

There is a big guest parking lot, the managing company building, and also some boutiques, cafes, housing services and even a small spa-salon at the entry of the complex. These businesses are all packed within a walking distance from each other in the framework of a single master plan. 


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau

"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau

The residential blocks stand separately but they all have something in common. They are designed for a small number of apartments of different formats: simple studios (55-65 yd2), big two-room (70-90 yd2) and three-room apartments (95-130 yd2). The glass fragments in the walls of every living unit are a conceptual detail. Large balconies and terraces play the role of a buffer zone between the interior and the exterior with the exit into the nature. The ground floors of the residential volumes with a significant part of glazing have the same function. However, this is the “club” space of the house: apart from the reception and the service rooms (the generic feature of urban houses) the interiors are designed as lounge zones where all neighbors, friends and guests can meet.


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau

The cottage theme is easily traced in the façade design. The dominating finishing materials are natural – wood, stone, textured bricks – and the modern composites – ceramic-granite of various textures and Prodema and Trespa façade panels. According to the PANACOM architects, purchasing property in this complex means buying a comfortable out-of-town life for optimal cost. “The expenses, both direct and indirect, are much lower than those for a cottage but you in fact you get more of the “country” lifestyle” – adds Arseniy Leonovich. 


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau


"Polyana Samotsvetov" residential complex © "PANAKOM" architectural bureau
 


20 November 2014

Headlines now
Centipede Town
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Warm Black and White
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​Skylights and Staircase
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The Colorful City
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The Altai Ornament
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Pro Forma
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The Arch and the Triangle
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Health Factory
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The Blooming Mechanics of a Glass Forest
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Grace and Unity
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Daring Brilliance
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A Twist of the Core
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The Sculpting of Spring Forest Matter
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Water and Wind Whet the Stone
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Elevation 5642
The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a comprehensive development project for three ski resorts in the Caucasus, which have been designated as special economic zones of the tourism and recreation type. The first of these zones is Elbrus. The project includes the construction of new ski runs, cable cars, and hotels, as well as the modernization of stations and improvements to the Azau tourist meadow. To expand the audience and enhance year-round appeal, a network of eco-trails is also being developed. In this article, we provide a detailed breakdown of each stage.
The IT Town
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The Heart Lies Within
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Magnetic Forces
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Orion’s Belt
The Stone Khodynka 2 office complex, designed by Kleinewelt Architekten for the company Stone, is built with an ergonomic layout following “healthy building” principles: natural light, ventilation, and all the necessary features for an efficient office environment. On the outside, it resembles – like many contemporary buildings – an iPhone: sleek, glowing, glass-and-metal, edges elegantly rounded. Yet, it responds sensitively to the Khodynka context, where the main theme is the contrast between vertical and horizontal lines. The key intrigue lies in the design of the “stylobate” as a suspended passage, leaving the space beneath it open for free pedestrian movement.
Grigory Revzin: “It Was a Bold Statement Made on the Sly. Something Won”
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Exposed Concrete
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One Step Closer To the Dream
The challenges of getting all the mandatory approvals, an insufficient budget, and construction site difficulties did not prevent ASADOV Bureau from achieving its main goal in the realization of the school project in the town of Troitsk – taking another step away from outdated notions of educational spaces toward creating a fundamentally new academic environment.
Chalet on the Rock
An Accor hotel in Arkhyz, designed by A.Len, will be situated at the gateway to the resort’s main tourist hubs. The architects reinterpreted the widely popular chalet style while adding an unexpected twist – an unfinished structure preserved on the site. The design team transformed this remnant into an exciting space featuring an open-air pool and a restaurant with panoramic views of the region’s highest mountain ridges.
Sergey Skuratov: “By and large, the project has been realized in line with the original ideas”
In this issue, we talk to the chief architect of Garden Quarters, looking back at the history and key moments of a project that took 18 years to develop and has now finally been completed. What interests us most are the transformations that the project underwent during construction, and the way the “necessary void” of public space was formed, which turned this remarkable complex into a fragment of a whole new type of urban fabric – not just at the horizontal “street” level but in its vertical structure as well.
A Unique Representative
The recently concluded year 2024 can be considered the year of completion for the “Garden Quarters” residential complex in Moscow’s Khamovniki. This project is well-known and, in many ways, iconic. Rarely does one manage to preserve such a number of original ideas, achieving in the end a kind of urban planning Gesamtkunstwerk. Here is a subjective view from an architecture journalist, with an interview with Sergey Skuratov soon to follow.
Field of Life
The new project by the architectural company PNKB (an acronym for “Design, Research, and Advisory Bureau”), led by Sergey Gnedovsky and Anton Lyubimkin, for the Kulikovo Field Museum is dedicated to the field as a concept in its own right. The field has long been a focus of the museum’s thorough and successful research. Accordingly, the exterior of the new museum building is gentler than that of its predecessor, which was also designed by PNKB and dedicated specifically to the historic battle. Inside, however, the building confidently guides the visitor from a luminous atrium along a spiral path to the field – interpreted here as a field of life.
A Paper Clip above the River
In this article, we talk with Vitaly Lutz from the Genplan Institute of Moscow about the design and unique features of the pedestrian bridge that now links the two banks of the Yauza River in the new cluster of Bauman Moscow State Technical University (MSTU). The bridge’s form and functionality – particularly the inclusion of an amphitheater suspended over the river – were conceived during the planning phase of the territory’s development. Typically, this approach is not standard practice, but the architects advocate for it, referring to this intermediate project phase as the “pre-AGR” stage (AGR stands for Architectural and Urban Planning Approval). Such a practice, they argue, helps define key parameters of future projects and bridge the gap between urban planning and architectural design.