Living Next to Lyceum

This housing project, boasting a water channel, a landscaped park of its own, and the proximity to the renovated “Imperial Steam Engine Shed”, is one of the three finalists of the competition organized by the client.

Written by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

02 November 2016

Object

In the city of Pushkin (Saint-Petersburg area), near the Tsarskoye Selo museum, a new housing project was supposed to be built. A closed competition for the best proposal was organized with twelve architectural companies participating in it, the whole thing happening within a really short timeframe of a month and a half. The concept developed by Arkhstroydesign headed by Aleksey Ivanov was among the three finalists.

zooming — Residential area in Pushkin. Birds-eye view. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign ASD

The land site of an irregular elongated shape that looks like a lady’s shoe turned upside down is situated next to the Aleksandrovsky Park with the Ekaterininsky Palace and the Tsarskoye Selo complex. At the south end, the site borders on the Kuzminskoe Highway. A little distance away from its northern border, the Kuzminka River flows. The territory, upon which the new housing project will be built, still has on it the surviving buildings of the old railway station. Still in the late XIX century, this place got the first Imperial Pavilion that hosted the trains arriving to the Tsarskoye Selo. After the fire, in 1911, the place where the burned-down pavilion once stood got a new building designed by Vladimir Pokrovsky. By degrees, it got surrounded by the maintenance facilities that were used for repairing and servicing the imperial locomotives. During the soviet time, the railway station was renamed to become the “Uritsky Pavilion”, and since 1930 it housed the Pushkin Railway Repair and Engineering Works.

In accordance with the competition brief, most of the surviving factory buildings are to be torn down. Some of them will be renovated to fit the new function. In Aleksey Ivanov’s project, the existing buildings that occupy the entire south end of the site are included into the housing complex being adapted to function as administrative or office centers, while the grand “Imperial Steam Engine Shed” becomes the local community center.

Most of the territory is occupied by the residential blocks that form semi-closed-type little green yards turned in the direction of the central park that crosses the entire land site from north to south. The residential environment is completely vehicle-free, the automobile road tracing the perimeter of the site. The author of the project Aleksey Ivanov likens this ring road to the earth ramp that used to serve as the protector for medieval cities. The parking places also got a peripheral location. This way, the inside environment of the complex gets a maximum of safety and convenience. Aleksey Ivanov admits that the fashionable but used-all-too-often idea of residential blocks still proved to be the best choice for this project and its historical surroundings. “All the master plans developed at different times for Tsarskoye Selo were based on the gridiron plan, sometimes referred to as “Hippodamus grid pattern”, thus keeping up the historical structure – Aleksey Ivanov explains – we took the same path but what makes us different is the fact that we entered the environment at a slightly different angle, which was dictated by the borders of the plot, and the street pattern. The difference was no more than 18 degrees which exactly coincides with the Saint Petersburg grid. So, what we ultimately got was something like the capital merging with the provinces”.

Special attention was paid to the orientation of the project and its interaction with the surrounding context. For one, the main “park” axis of the residential area coincides with the direction of the Moscow - Saint Petersburg highway and opens up to the Alexandrovsky Park and the Imperial Railway Station on its one end, and to the Kuzminka riverbed on the other, where later on a recreational area can be organized.

The neat rows of the residential houses, whose height lowers towards the center from six to four floors, are cut in two by a water channel. The channel with landscaped banks, arched pedestrian bridges, strings of streetlights, and elegant benches, very much in the spirit of Saint Petersburg, begins at the walls of the renovated “Steam Engine Shed” and ends almost at the north border of the site. Such solution was proposed by the authors as an alternative to the regular pedestrian promenade. Currently, the territory where the designed channel will run is occupied by dead-end and long-since-abandoned railway lines. According to the plan, these lines will be taken apart, the soil will be re-cultivated, and the channel, that follows their straight line of direction will become the landscape monument to the history of this place. For the same purpose, the architects plan to restore a section of railway line, put it up above the water, and place upon it a repair track machine that was assembled at the Pushkin Railway Repair and Engineering Works during the soviet times.

The concrete bed of the channel is surrounded on both sides with a green park that is divided into several thematic elements: the children’s zone with playgrounds, the sports zone, the exotic, and the regular park. The pedestrian waterfronts lead to the central semicircular square located closer to the north of the site in its wider part. On the square that is enclosed in the semicircle of trees and shrubs, there are fair tents, a children’s center, and recreation areas. Still further on in the northwest, beyond the border of the residential construction zone, there is an area for the school and a kindergarten. These two have a restricted-access territory and a sports complex of their own. The school functions as a buffer zone of sorts between the residential houses and the adjacent warehouse territory. At the same time, these school sports and playgrounds face the river and the forest providing the students with a great view.

The main public territory is organized on the side of the Kuzminskoye Highway next to the walls of the “Steam Engine Shed”. In addition to the renovated historical buildings, it is planned that the broad Cathedral Square will include a small chapel in the pseudo-Russian style, characteristic of the early XX century. Behind it, there is a plot where residential lofts will be built. This fragment of contemporary construction responds to the existing industrial context and enters into a dialogue with it. However, employing its scale and form, instead of the traditional brown brick, the designers proposed to use a more neutral gray-green brick, hand-formed.

Quite a different matter is the residential blocks inside of the land site. They are nothing like the place’s industrial past. At the same time, the modern motifs get along quite well with the so-called historicism. The competition brief required that the new housing area stylistically correspond to the historical architecture of Saint Petersburg which generally did not contradict the block master plan developed by Aleksey Ivanov. However, “historicism” only manifests itself here along the perimeter of the land site. Here, on the street façades of the houses one can see the characteristic classical segmentation, horizontal cornices, pitched roofs, and the three-color palette. The dry historical façades are offset by the modern ones on the yard side – with large window apertures, floor-to-ceiling glazing, deep stanzas, long balcony railings, and the shifted pillars and lintels of the top floors. Each of the blocks has an individual design with little yet quite noticeable accents.

This combination of seemingly incompatible styles forms a diverse environment based on type-design practice. According to the author, the rationality of the approach, the construction schedule (four stages are proposed), and the type-design are the benefits that make this project quite implementable. Nevertheless, Aleksey Ivanov confesses that he is not really counting on implementation. The project has died down. As is often the case, things didn't go any further than the competition stage.

02 November 2016

Headlines now

The Mirror of Your Soul

We continue to publish projects from the competition for the design of the Russian Pavilion at EXPO in Osaka 2025. We are reminding you that the results of the competition have not been announced, and hardly will ever be. The pavilion designed by ASADOV Architects combines a forest log cabin, the image of a hyper transition, and sculptures made of glowing threads – it focuses primarily on the scenography of the exhibition, which the pavilion builds sequentially like a string of impressions, dedicating it to the paradoxes of the Russian soul.

Part of the Ideal

In 2025, another World Expo will take place in Osaka, Japan, in which Russia will not participate. However, a competition for the Russian pavilion was indeed held, with six projects participating. The results were never announced as Russia’s participation was canceled; the competition has no winners. Nevertheless, Expo pavilion projects are typically designed for a bold and interesting architectural statement, so we’ve gathered all the six projects and will be publishing articles about them in random order. The first one is the project by Vladimir Plotkin and Reserve Union, which is distinguished by the clarity of its stereometric shape, the boldness of its structure, and the multiplicity of possible interpretations.

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The Fortress by the River

ASADOV Architects have developed a concept for a new residential district in the center of Kemerovo. To combat the harsh climate and monotonous everyday life, the architects proposed a block type of development with dominant towers, good insolation, facades detailed at eye level, and event programming.

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In the Rhombus Grid

Construction has begun on the building of the OMK (United Metallurgical Company) Corporate University in Nizhny Novgorod’s town of Vyksa, designed by Ostozhenka Architects. The most interesting aspect of the project is how the architects immersed it in the context: “extracting” a diagonal motif from the planning grid of Vyksa, they aligned the building, the square, and the park to match it. A truly masterful work with urban planning context on several different levels of perception has long since become the signature technique of Ostozhenka.

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Generational Connection

Another modern estate, designed by Roman Leonidov, is located in the Moscow region and brings together three generations of one family under one roof. To fit on a narrow plot without depriving anyone of personal space, the architects opted for a zigzag plan. The main volume in the house structure is accentuated by mezzanines with a reverse-sloped roof and ceilings featuring exposed beams.

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Three Dimensions of the City

We began to delve into the project by Sergey Skuratov, the residential complex “Depo” in Minsk, located at Victory Square, and it fascinated us completely. The project has at least several dimensions to it: historical – at some point, the developer decided to discontinue further collaboration with Sergey Skuratov Architects, but the concept was approved, and its implementation continues, mostly in accordance with the proposed ideas. The spatial and urban planning dimension – the architects both argue with the city and play along with it, deciphering nuances, and finding axes. And, finally, the tactile dimension – the constructed buildings also have their own intriguing features. Thus, this article also has two parts: it dwells on what has been built and what was conceived

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New “Flight”

Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.

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The Yauza Towers

In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.

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Architecture and Leisure Park

For the suburban hotel complex, which envisages various formats of leisure, the architectural company T+T Architects proposed several types of accommodation, ranging from the classic “standard” in a common building to a “cave in the hill” and a “house in a tree”. An additional challenge consisted in integrating a few classic-style residences already existing on this territory into the “architectural forest park”.

Overview

The U-House

The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.

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Black and White

In this article, we specifically discuss the interiors of the ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh. Interior design is a crucial component of the overall concept in this case, and precision and meticulous execution were highly important for the architects. Julia Tryaskina, head of UNK interiors, shares some of the developments.

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The “Snake” Mountain

The competition project for the seaside resort complex “Serpentine” combines several typologies: apartments of different classes, villas, and hotel rooms. For each of these typologies, the KPLN architects employ one of the images that are drawn from the natural environment – a serpentine road, a mountain stream, and rolling waves.

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Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring

The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.

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Feed ’Em All

A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.

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The Ensemble at the Mosque

OSA prepared a master plan for a district in the southern part of Derbent. The main task of the master plan is to initiate the formation of a modern comfortable environment in this city. The organization of residential areas is subordinated to the city’s spiritual center: depending on the location relative to the cathedral mosque, the houses are distinguished by façade and plastique solutions. The program also includes a “hospitality center”, administrative buildings, an educational cluster, and even an air bridge.

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Pargolovo Protestantism

A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.

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The Shape of the Inconceivable

The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.

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Rays of the Desert

A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.

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The Dairy Theme

The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.

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The Road to the Temple

Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.

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Towers Leaning Towards the Sun

The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.

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In the spirit of ROSTA posters

The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.

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The Northern Thebaid

The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.

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Brilliant Production

The architects from London-based MOST Architecture have designed the space for the high-tech production of Charge Cars, a high-performance production facility for high-speed electric cars that are assembled in the shell of legendary Ford Mustangs. The founders of both the company and the car assembly startup are Russians who were educated in their home country.

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Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor

The so-called “Mytny Dvor” area lying just behind Moscow Railway Station – the market rows with a complex history – will be transformed into a premium residential complex by Studio 44. The project consists of three parts: the restoration of historical buildings, the reconstruction of the lost part of the historical contour, and new houses. All of them are harmonized with each other and with the city; axes and “beams of light” were found, cozy corners and scenic viewpoints were carefully thought out. We had a chat with the authors of the historical buildings’ restoration project, and we are telling you about all the different tasks that have been solved here.

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The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement

In 2022, Ostozhenka Architects won a competition, and in 2023, they developed and received all the necessary approvals for a master plan for the development of Chernigovskaya Street for the developer GloraX. The project takes into account a 10-year history of previous developments; it was done in collaboration with architects from Nizhny Novgorod, and it continues to evolve now. We carefully examined it, talked to everyone, and learned a lot of interesting things.

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A Single-Industry Town

Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.

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A New Age Portico

At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.

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A New Starting Point

We’ve been wanting to examine the RuArts Foundation space, designed by ATRIUM for quite a long time, and we finally got round to it. This building looks appropriate and impressive; it amazingly combines tradition – represented in our case by galleries – and innovation. In this article, we delve into details and study the building’s historical background as well.

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Molding Perspectives

Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.

​Living Next to Lyceum

This housing project, boasting a water channel, a landscaped park of its own, and the proximity to the renovated “Imperial Steam Engine Shed”, is one of the three finalists of the competition organized by the client.

Living Next to Lyceum