The Hornets’ Nest

The new office of the architectural firm ATRIUM reflects the original concept by Anton Nadtochiy and Vera Butko. There is an art object hanging in the center of a double-height space: it is at once a meeting room, the nucleus of the composition, and the presentation of the creative method.

Written by:
Lara Kopylova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

25 June 2018

Object

Architect:

Firm:

ATRIUM http://atrium.ru/

The new office of this architectural firm is situated on the territory of the “Rassvet” factory (earlier known as “Muir & Merrilies”) in the “Krasnaya Presnya” district of Moscow that is now being actively renovated and developed upon the concept of the friends and colleagues of ATRIUM – DNK ag. ATRIUM rented here a large double-height space in one of the old production buildings of the 1970’s with their 6-meter ceilings and huge windows. The premises were completely reconstructed: they redecorated the place, replaced the floors and the stained glass windows, added new intermediate floors and organized a loft floor. The surpluses of the area were also redecorated for subleasing.

zooming — ATRIUM office. Photograph © Sergey Nadtochiy / ATRIUM

The authors tried to create the kind of interior that would be as open as possible, filled with light and air. The inbuilt loft space makes it possible to look at the whole space from up above, and creates extra visual angles. Its black framework, like a veritable picture frame, holds the geometric volumes of the premises, which are articulated by the colors and materials used (cement decorative panels and cell polycarbonate).

The original “shell” is left undecorated: the ceilings are de-dusted, and the walls are just painted, thus exposing the history of the place. The artifacts from the soviet times, which were discovered in the course of the remodeling process, have also been carefully preserved – now they are exhibited in the entrance hall. And this is but one of the techniques, through which the architects develop the loft-aesthetics, as the most appropriate kind for creative spaces and the kind that makes it possible to streamline the costs. The brightest accent is the self-leveling floors; of ATRIUM’s trademark red color – a deliberate reference to the aesthetics of the Russian avant-garde.

However, the compositional and conceptual centerpiece of the interior is the volume of the main meeting room. Built upon the principle of minimum surfaces, the sculptural form that literally hangs down from the ceiling became the face of the whole project – it embodies the latest trends of modern architecture. The form is based on articulated windows that create unexpected visual links not only to the inside space of the office but also to the street outside. The form optimally adapts to the surrounding situation and its features, and quite surprisingly changes its outlines when viewed from different angles.

Anton Nadtochiy: “What we did was taking this parallelepiped origin and transforming it depending on the function and the specific situation. The meeting room was to be, on the one hand, isolated, and, on the other hand, it was to have a fair share of transparency and openness. We decided to make several apertures and several planes: one provides visual connection to the entrance zone, another, on the floor level, overlooks the territory, and the glass partition with an entrance door looks as if it were meeting you as you walk down the corridor and invites you to come in. In these places the form stretches out, and, reacting to the TV screen inside the meeting room, looks as if it were dented in the opposite direction. As a result, we are getting a new sculptural shape, functional in its nature and a perfect match for the context”.

Just as the whole interior design concept is based on the idea of “minimum optimum intrusion” that is all about the efficient usage of funds and resources, the volume of the meeting room, in spite of its geometric complexity, is very simple construction-wise – it is essentially a metal framework covered on both sides with plasterboard with soundproof padding and и covered with PVC fabric. As a result, the form that the architects got looks very much like a hornets’ nest stuck to the outer wall between the intermediate floor and the ceiling. One at once gets a vision of the employees swarming in at the beginning of a busy day. The similarity is, of course, only conditional. Run through the futuristic filter, the volume has optimum facets and surfaces because it was built by human beings who are certainly familiar with the geometry of plains and the aesthetics of suprematism.

In addition, the white planes, exposed to the slanted sunbeams falling from the window, will for sure put every alumnus of Moscow Institute of Architecture worth his salt the faceted model head that everyone would draw as a student. And the demonstration of ATRIUM’s method is all about the fact that this object is as multifaceted as it is “multi-faced” – it is perceived differently when viewed from different angles, opening up its new sides every time; violating the modernist principle of a match between the form and the content, the inside and outside shells are created independently from each other.

The architects designed the shape of this sophisticated “flexible crystal” in the Grasshoper software environment that allows its user to work with complex geometry and mathematically model bicurved surfaces. With its help, the cutting out of the PVC fabric was made and the geometry of the bearing framework was defined.

The large meeting room is not only an outwardly conceptual object but a consolidating space as well. On Fridays, the whole team gathers there for lectures and general communication. What is interesting is the fact that, in accordance with the formal logic of building office spaces, this could be the perfect spot for the director’s office – one can see everything from the top, and the place is in the very center of the premises. But the company has two leaders in fact, and they democratically placed their office on the first floor, closer to the entrance and the other employees.

The numerous zones for work and communication, a special projects zone, a spacious kitchen, a library, and a gym with a tennis table – all this the architects designed with regard to the fact that the team spends a lot of time in the office, particularly when the project is about to be submitted to the client. In this interior, the architects fully implemented their idea of the perfect workspace – a place where new ideas are born and fostered.

Architect:

Firm:

ATRIUM http://atrium.ru/

25 June 2018

Headlines now

View

“Strangers” in the City

We asked Alexander Skokan for a comment on the results of 2025 – and he sent us a whole article, moreover one devoted to the discussion we recently began on the “appropriateness of high-rises” – or, more broadly speaking, “contrasting insertions into the urban fabric”. The result is a text that is essentially a question: why here? Why like this?

Interview

Dmitry Ostroumov: “To use the language of alchemy, we are involved in the process of “transmutation...

What we ended up having was an extremely unusual conversation with Dmitry Ostroumov. Why? At the very least, because he is not just an architect specializing in the construction of Orthodox churches. And not just – which is an extreme rarity – a proponent of developing contemporary stylistics within this still highly conservative field. Dmitry Ostroumov is a Master of Theology. So in addition to the history and specifics of the company, we speak about the very concept of the temple, about canon and tradition, about the living and the eternal, and even about the Russian Logos.

Interview

MB-PROJECT: “Every new project is a challenge”

In this issue, we speak with Dmitry and Oleg Shurygin, founders of the company MV-PROJECT, which has extensive experience in designing theater and entertainment buildings as well as working with cultural heritage sites.

Object

A Glazed Figurine

In searching for an image for a residential building near the Novodevichy Convent, GAFA architects turned to their own perception of the place: it evoked associations with antiquity, plein-air painting, and vintage artifacts. The two towers will be entirely clad in volumetric glazed ceramic – at present, there are no other buildings like this in Russia. The complex will also stand out thanks to its metabolic bay-window cells, streamlined surfaces, a ceremonial “hotel-style” driveway, and a lobby overlooking a lush garden.

Report

A Knight’s Move via the Cour d’Honneur

Intercolumnium Architects presented to the City Planning Council a residential complex project that is set to replace the Aquatoria business center on Vyborgskaya Embankment. Experts praised the overall quality of the work, but expressed reservations about the three cour d’honneurs and suggested softening the contrast between the facades facing the embankment and the Kantemirovsky Bridge.

Object

A Small Country

Mezonproekt is developing a long-term master plan for the MEPhI campus in Obninsk. Over the next ten years, an enclave territory of about 100 hectares, located in a forest on the northern edge of the city, is set to transform into a modern center for the development of the nuclear energy sector. The plan envisions attracting international students and specialists, as well as comprehensive territorial development: both through the contemporary realization of “frozen” plans from the 1980s and through the introduction of new trends – public spaces, an aquapark, a food court, a school, and even a nuclear medicine center. Public and sports facilities are intended to be accessible to city residents as well, and the campus is to be physically and functionally connected to Obninsk.

Object

Pearl Divers

GAFA has designed an apartment complex for Derbent intended to switch people from a work mode to a resort mindset – and to give the surrounding area a much-needed jolt. The building offers two distinct faces: restrained and laconic on the city side, and a lushly ornate façade facing the sea. At the heart of the complex, a hidden pearl lies – an open-air pool with an arch, offering views of a starry sky, and providing direct access to the beach.

Object

A Satellite Island

The Genplan Institute of Moscow has prepared a master plan for the development of the Sarpinsky and Golodny island system, located within the administrative boundaries of Volgograd and considered among the largest river islands in Russia. By 2045, the plan envisions the implementation of 15 large-scale investment projects, including sports and educational clusters, a congress center with a “Volgonarium”, a film production cluster, and twenty-one theme parks. We explain which engineering, environmental, and transportation challenges must be addressed to turn this vision into reality. The master plan solutions have already been approved and incorporated into the city’s general development plan.

Object

The Amber Gate

The Amber City residential complex is one of the redevelopment projects in the former industrial area located beyond Moscow’s Third Ring Road near Begovaya metro station. Alexey Ilyin’s studio proposed an original master plan that transformed two clusters of towers into ceremonial propylaea, gave the complex a recognizable silhouette, and established visual connections with new high-rise developments on both right and left – thus integrating it into the scale of the growing metropolis. It is also marked by its own futuristic stylistic language, based on a reinterpreted streamline aesthetic.

Object

A Theater Triangle

The architectural company “Chetvertoe Izmerenie” (“Fourth Dimension”) has developed the design for a new stage of the Magnitogorsk Musical Theater, rethinking not only theater architecture but also the role of the theater in the contemporary city.

Interview

Aleksei Ilyin: “I approach every task with genuine interest”

Aleksei Ilyin has been working on major urban projects for more than 30 years. He has all the necessary skills for high-rise construction in Moscow – yet he believes it’s essential to maintain variety in the typologies and scales represented in his portfolio. He is passionate about drawing – but only from life, and also in the process of working on a project. We talk about the structure and optimal size of an office, about his past and current projects, large and small tasks, and about creative priorities.

Interview

Sergey Tchoban: “My ideal model for shaping a museum space is the Uffizi Gallery. In the...

Yesterday, the ZILART Museum opened on the ZILART grounds with three exhibitions curated by well-known curators. We speak with Sergey Tchoban about the concept and its realization.

Object

A Golden Sunbeam

A compact brick-and-metal building in the growing Shukhov Park in Vyksa seems to absorb sunlight, transform it into yellow accents inside, and in the evening “give it back” as a warm golden glow streaming from its windows. It is, frankly, a very attractive building: both material and lightweight at the same time, with lightness inside and materiality outside. Its form is shaped by function – laconic, yet far from simple. Let’s take a closer look.

Architecton Awards

In 2025, the jury of the Architecton festival reviewed the finalist projects through live, open presentations held right in the exhibition hall – a rather engaging performance, and something rarely seen among Russian awards. It would be great if “Zodchestvo” adopted this format. Below, we present all the winning projects, including four special nominations.

send.project

Garden of Knowledge

UNK architects and UNK design created the interiors of the Letovo Junior campus, working together with NF Studio, which was responsible for developing the educational technology that takes into account the needs and perception of younger and middle school children.

The Silver Skates

The STONE Kaluzhskaya office quarter is accompanied by two residential towers, making the complex – for it is indeed a single ensemble – well balanced in functional terms. The architects at Kleinewelt gave the residential buildings a silvery finish to match the office blocks. How they are similar, how they differ, and what “Silver Skates” has to do with it – we explore in this article.

Overview

On the Dynastic Trail

The houses and townhouses of the “Tsarskaya Tropа” (“Czar’s Trail”) complex are being built in the village of Gaspra in Crimea – to the west and east of the palaces of the former grand-ducal residence “Ai-Todor”. One of the main challenges for the architects at KPLN, who developed the project, was to respond appropriately to this significant neighboring heritage. How this influenced the massing, the façades, and the way the authors work with the terrain is explored in our article.

Object

A New Path

The main feature of the Yar Park project, designed by Sergey Skuratov for Kazan, is that it is organized along the “spine” of a multifunctional mall with an impressive multi-height atrium space in its middle. The entire site, both on the city side and the Kazanka River embankment, is open to the public. The complex is intended not to become “yet another fenced enclave” but, as urban planners say, a “polycenter” – a new point of attraction for the whole of Kazan, especially its northern part, made up of residential districts that until now have lacked such a vibrant public space. It represents a new urban planning approach to a high-density mixed-use development situated in the city center – in a sense, an “anti-quarter”. Even Moscow, one might say, doesn’t yet have anything quite like it. Well, lucky Kazan!

Object

Beneath the Azure Sky

A depository designed by Studio 44 will soon be built in Kenozersky National Park to preserve and display the so-called “heavens” – ceiling structures characteristic of wooden churches in the Russian North, painted with biblical scenes. For each of these “heavens”, the architects created a volume corresponding in scale and dimensions to the original church interior. The result is a honeycomb-like composition, with modules derived directly from the historic monuments themselves, allowing visitors to view the icons from the historically accurate angle – from below, looking upward. How exactly this works is the subject of our story.

Object

The Power of Lines

The building at the very beginning of New Arbat is the result of long deliberations over how to replace the former House of Communication. Contemporary, dynamic, and even somewhat zoomorphic in character, it is structured around a large diagonal grid. The building has become a striking accent both in the perspective of the former Kalinin Avenue and in the panorama of Arbat Square. Yet, unfortunately, the original concept was not fully realized. In 2020, the Moscow ArchCouncil approved a design featuring an exoskeleton – an external load-bearing structure, which eventually turned into a purely decorative element. Still, the power of the supergraphic “holds” the building, giving it the qualities of a new urban landmark with iconic potential. How this concept took shape, what unexpected associations might underlie the grid’s form, and why the exoskeleton was never built – all this is explored in our article.

News

Resort on the Kama River

Wowhaus has developed a project for the reconstruction of Korabelnaya Roshcha (“Mast Grove”), a wellness resort located on the banks of the Kama River.

Object

Nests in Primorye

The eco-park project “Nests”, designed by Aleksey Polishchuk and the company Power Technologies, received first prize at the Eco-Coast 2025 festival, organized by the Union of Architects of Russia. For a glamping site in Filinskaya Bay, the authors proposed bird-shaped houses, treehouses, and a nest-shaped observation platform, topping it all with an entrance pavilion executed in the shape of an owl.

Object

The Angle of String Tension

The House of Music, designed by Vladimir Plotkin and the architects of TPO Reserve, resembles a harp, and when seen from above, even a bass clef. But if only it were that simple! The architecture of the complex fuses two distinct expressive languages: the lattice-like, transparent, permeable vocabulary of “classical” modernism and the sculptural, ribbon-like volumes so beloved by today’s neo-modernism. How it all works – where the catharsis lies, which compositional axes underpin the design, where the project resembles Zaryadye Concert Hall and where it does not – read in the article below.

Object

How Historic Tobolsk Becomes a Portal to the Future

Over the past decade, the architectural company Wowhaus has developed urban strategies for several Russian cities – Vyksa, Tula, and Nizhnekamsk, to name but a few. Against this backdrop, the Tobolsk master plan stands out both for its scale – the territory under transformation covers more than 220 square kilometers – and for its complexity.

Object

St. Petersburg vs Rome

The center of St. Petersburg is, as we know, sacred – but few people can say with certainty where this “sacred place” actually begins and ends. It’s not about the formal boundaries, “from the Obvodny Canal to the Bolshaya Nevka”, but about the vibe that feels true to the city center. With the Nevskaya Ratusha complex – built to a design that won an international competition – Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Tchoban created an “image of the center” within its territory. And not so much the image of St. Petersburg itself, as that of a global metropolis. This is something new, something that hasn’t appeared in the city for a long time. In this article, we study the atmosphere, recall precedents, and even reflect on who and when first called St. Petersburg the “new Rome”. Clearly, the idea is alive for a reason.

Object

On the Wave

The project of transforming the river port and embankment in the city of Cheboksary, developed by the ATRIUM Architects, involves one of the city’s key areas. The Volga embankment is to be turned into a riverside boulevard – a multifunctional, comfortable, and expressive space for work and leisure activities. The authors propose creating a new link with the city’s main Krasnaya (“Red”) Square, as well as erecting several residential towers inspired by the shape of the traditional national women’s headdress – these towers are likely to become striking accents on the Volga panorama.

Interview

Valery Kanyashin: “We Were Given a Free Hand”

The Headliner residential complex, the main part of which was recently completed just across from Moscow City, is a kind of neighbor to the MIBC that doesn’t “play along” with it. On the contrary, the new complex is entirely built on contrast: like a city of differently scaled buildings that seems to have emerged naturally over the past 20 years – which is a hugely popular trend nowadays! And yet here – perhaps only here – such a project has been realized to its full potential. Yes, high-rises dominate, but all these slender, delicate profiles, all these exciting perspectives! And most importantly – how everything is mixed and composed together... We spoke with the project’s leader Valery Kanyashin.

Object

The Keystone

Until quite recently, premium residential and office complexes in Moscow were seen as the exclusive privilege of the city center. Today the situation is changing: high-quality architecture is moving beyond the confines of the Third Ring Road and appearing on the outskirts. The STONE Kaluzhskaya business center is one such example. Projects like this help decentralize the megalopolis, making life and work prestigious in any part of the city.

send.project

Perpetuum Mobile

The interior of the headquarters of Natsproektstroy, created by the IND studio team, vividly and effectively reflects the client’s field of activity – it is one of Russia’s largest infrastructure companies, responsible for logistics and transport communications of every kind you can possibly think of.

Object

Water and Light

Church art is full of symbolism, and part of it is truly canonical, while another part is shaped by tradition and is perceived by some as obligatory. Because of this kind of “false conservatism”, contemporary church architecture develops slowly compared to other genres, and rarely looks contemporary. Nevertheless, there are enthusiasts in this field out there: the cemetery church of Archangel Michael in Apatity, designed by Dmitry Ostroumov and Prokhram bureau, combines tradition and experiment. This is not an experiment for its own sake, however – rather, the considered work of a contemporary architect with the symbolism of space, volume, and, above all, light.