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​Five cases of working with industrial architecture – by ASD Architects

Aleksey Ivanov shares about his experience of working with industrial architecture projects at the example of five cases, different both conceptually and functionally.

10 February 2017
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1. Industrial architecture: renovation “the way everyone likes it”

Reconstruction of the building on the Timura Frunze Street. Implementation, 2005 © Arkhstroydesign


“Ten years ago our company did a project of reconstructing the façades of Building 11 belonging to the “Red Rose” factory located on the Timura Frunze Street. We view this project as the most typical case of renovating industrial facilities. After a factory is shut down its former buildings are remodeled into housing, offices, exhibition halls, or even museums.

In the course of discussing the project with our client, we defined the three main tasks. The first one was to keep intact the view that opens up from the Zubov Side-street on the Vsevolzhsky Estate that starts a beautiful sightseeing axis from the Garden Ring. Second – we wanted to accentuate the modern treatment for industrial architecture. And, finally, we wanted to come up with a cool-looking “development drawing” front consisting of the red-brick houses standing along the Timura Frunze Street. In order to achieve the first task, we proposed to build a transparent fence made of glass panels. As for the “modernization” effect, we achieved it by using what we called a hi-tech metallic “stool” that marked the main entrance to the future bank. In order to recreate the historical view of the complex, we removed the later-on layers of paint and exposed the brickwork. This way, losing, to a certain degree, in its tectonic quality, the wall took on the modern aspect of a hi-tech fence”.
 
2. A boiler-house as a popular art object

The boiler-house building. Implementation, 2008 © Arkhstroydesign


“In the course of our work on the project of the boiler-house in the Pavshinskaya flood plain, our client came up with a task of making a cool-looking art object, and he was ready to invest extra money into it, too. As a result, we indeed got a truly photogenic art object that keeps attracting the attention of movie makers and TV crews alike. Our boiler-house has already served as a backdrop in a few different movies, for example, in 2014 Anna Melikyan shot her movie “Zvezda” (“The Star”) there. This boiler-house became a true catalyst for various creative activities.

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The shooting of "The Star" movie by Anna Melikyan against a backdrop of the boiler-house 2014 © Arkhstroydesign


We achieved this effect by using the possibilities that the equipment and the hardware inside the boiler-house provided us with. The hardware already looks beautiful as it is – the cast-iron (and now steel) boilers with stainless steel pipes, the intertwined bridges and stairways. All this equipment looks like contemporary design. For each of the boilers, we installed a special “showcase” window, and created a switchboard operator’s office that opens up on the façade in a huge circular window. In order to make the composition still more dramatic, we coated the building with red and dark-brown Belgian hand-molded bricks that go a long way to recreate the image of an old industrial building that has seen much service”.

The boiler-house building. Implementation, 2008 © Arkhstroydesign

 
3. Industrial architecture as a residential area

The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. View from the Zapadnaya Street. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


“Seven years later this same client turned to us with a proposition to do a boiler-house on the Sadovaya Street in a Moscow-area town of Odintsovo. Our attitude towards technology as a work of art remained the same but this time we decided to recreate the image of an industrial building as part of residential environment.

The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


In order to alleviate the brutalist aspect that is inherently there in most of industrial projects, we moved the boiler facility inside the land site, placing an extra volume in front of it. The resulting inside yard was turned into a restaurant. And as for the switchboard operator facility, we turned it into an office building with a fitness center and other administrative functions. With the addition of extra buildings, the boiler-house turned into a multifunctional project that can be viewed as a museum or a housing project, or an office center – in other words, as something typically urban”.

The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


The administrative and office building with a heating boiler-house in the town of Odintsovo. Master plan. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign

 
4. A boiler facility as a city park

The central heat distribution station in Odintsovo © Arkhstroydesign


“And again, in the town of Odintsovo, we remodeled a boiler facility into a heat supply substation as part of a twenty-story building. The location the boiler-house standing on the viewing axis of the Marshala Biryuzova Street required some appropriate design and decoration. What suggested itself was a vertical that would fix the crossing of the pedestrian routes and echoing these pedestrian routes with a few green zones and parks surrounding this building. We decided to raise the boiler-house to the status of the center of the single park zone. Regretfully, this project was to remain on paper”.

The central heat distribution station in Odintsovo. Master plan © Arkhstroydesign

 
5. Industrial architecture as a means of forming an architectural ensemble

Reconstruction of the bakery and confectionery complex "Prostor". Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


“Contest for the best proposal on reconstructing some of the facilities and façades of “Prostor” Factory that we won working in a team Manipulazione Internazionale in 2015, while still in the project documentation stage, grew into a large-scale reconstruction project that included the addition of several new buildings, in the framework of which we corrected the logistics structure and planning of the territory. In order to avoid getting in the way of the production process, we decided to place a couple of two new buildings on the depth of the yard, where the storage buildings are situated. This is how the south border of the land site got a building with a dormitory for the employees and maintenance facilities, as well as a cold storage building and a storage building for packing materials.

Reconstruction of the bakery and confectionery complex "Prostor". Entrance group. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


On the yard side, we built new basements that support an extra six-story annex with production and storage functions. The changes were also made to the production facility that got a buildup. The first floor got a specialized store running along the perimeter of the complex”.

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Reconstruction of the bakery and confectionery complex "Prostor". The facades of operations and production buildings. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


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Reconstruction of the bakery and confectionery complex "Prostor". The facades of operations and production buildings. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


Reconstruction of the bakery and confectionery complex "Prostor". Master plan. Project, 2015 © Arkhstroydesign


10 February 2017

Headlines now
New “Flight”
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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.
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”.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
​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.
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.
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.
​Towers Leaning Towards the Sun
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A New Starting Point
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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.
An Educational Experiment for the North
City-Arch continues to work on the projects that can be termed as “experimental public preschools”: private kindergartens and schools can envy such facilities in many respects. This time around, the project is done for the city of Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. A diverse educational and play environment, including a winter garden, awaits future students, while the teachers will have abundant opportunities to implement new practices.
Alexandra Kuzmina: “Working is easy when the rules are the same for everyone”
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The Cemetery: Inside and Outside
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Our Everything
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For Mental Reboot
At the architectural competition held in 2023 in Novosibirsk, the project by GORA Architects – a pedestrian bridge leading to the town of Bor – was awarded the “Golden Capital” prize. In this country, more than a hundred pedestrian bridges are constructed each year. What makes the Bor bridge different?
Gold Embroidery
A five-story housing complex designed by Stepan Liphart in Kazan, responds to the stylistically diverse context with its form, both integral and agile, and as for the vicinity of the “Ekiyat” movie theater, the complex responds to it with a semblance of theater curtain folds, and active plastique of its balconies, that bear some resemblance to theater boxes. Even if excessively pompous a little bit, the complex does look fresh and modern. One will have a hard time finding Art Deco elements in it, even though the spirit of the 1930s, run through the filter of neo-modernism, is still clearly felt, just as a twist of the Occident.