По-русски

Clouds over the Railroad

In the stead of former warehouses near “Lyubertsy-1” station, a new housing complex has been built, which peacefully coexists with the railroad, with the flyover bridge, and with the diverse surrounding scenery, not only dominating over the latter, but improving it.

Alla Pavlikova

Written by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

07 December 2020
Object
mainImg
The housing complex “Oblaka” (“Clouds”) has been built in the town of Lyubertsy in the Moscow metropolitan area ahead of schedule. While the apartments are already being actively sold, residents and potential buyers are discussing on the Internet the prospect of living next to a railroad line: some consider the proximity to the noisy station “Lyubertsy-1” an inconvenience, and some consider it to be a huge bonus because you can always get to Moscow downtown area quickly, bypassing the traffic jams.

“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


The project of the complex was developed by the architectural company “Mezonproject” at the commission of 3-RED developers. This is a fairly well-known developer, whose portfolio includes such implemented projects as the residential complex “Novokraskovo”, “Vidny Bereg”, the low-rise “May”, “House on Barvikhinskaya”, and others.

The leader of Mezonproekt Ilia Mashkov shared that his company was faced with a rather difficult task: to design, on a tight schedule, a commercially attractive housing complex on a land site that had a lot of spatial constraints and was far from easy in terms of its surroundings. But then again, such a situation is rather ordinary. In some sense, the developers are expecting the Russian architects to pull a miracle. And, surprisingly, sometimes miracles do happen.

The location plan. “Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Mezonproekt


The land site with an area of slightly less than 0.8 hectares occupies an angular position at the intersection of Initsiativnaya Street and Komsomolsky Prospect. Parallel to the Initsiativnaya Street, run the railroad tracks. The suburban trains rumble here from early morning till late at night. The four-lane Komsomolsky Avenue comes perpendicular to the railroad, spawning a raised road junction exactly where the new complex is situated.

The environment around the new residential compound is very diverse. There are shopping malls, sprawling left and right from “Lyubertsy-1” station, as well as brightly colored shopping pavilions and market tents. The farther away from the station, however, the cozier it becomes: the residential blocks of the late-Soviet period, 1990’s, and 2000’s, schools and kindergartens, food stores and cafés. Within a walking distance, there is the Natashinsky Park with two big ponds. The new housing complex will serve as a dividing line – a bastion that separates the center of Lyubertsy from the bustle of the railroad. At the same time, curiously, its yard is facing the station.

The site plan. “Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Mezonproekt


The complex consists of two buildings, three sections in each one. The tall elongated 25-story building separates the territory from the flyover bridge. A lower volume with the number of floors varying from 14 to 18 stands in the depth of the yard, “protecting” the rear. From the side of the Initsiativnaya Street, the yard space is protected by an iron fence and two two-story structures that are preserved on the land site (during the construction, they hosted the sales office and the showroom).

“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


Such an arrangement has to do not just with the urge to create a closed and secure yard. This way, the complex get maximum sunlight, opening up southward. The only place that experiences a lack of sunlight is the street façade of the 25-story building that gazes northwest. The problem is solved by using triangular bay windows. In addition to ensuring extra insolation inside the apartments, the bay windows also serve to increase their floor space, at the same time enriching the planning geometry. The “teeth” of the bay windows also make the façade look more expressive. Without them, the façade would have probably looked commonplace.

“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


At the design stage, it was assumed that some of the apartments would be sold to the residents, and some would be rented out. The latter would occupy a whole section – the last one, 18 stories high. Later on, however, the function was reconsidered, and now it is an office center with an independent entrance from the street side. This dialogue between the facades – the evenly pitched grid in the residential part and the dynamic “chessboard” grid in the office section – serves as the basis of the whole architecture of the complex.

Ilia Mashkov is reminiscing that this image came together almost at once – reserved, laconic, without any excessive plastique, and with a balanced color solution in the tone of Lyubertsy skies. At the same time, both height-wise, and in terms of the accuracy of architectural solutions, the new house obviously claims the role of a centerpiece.

author photo

Ilia Mashkov, Mezonproekt

The construction around our land site is rather homogeneous – a lot of standard housing projects. Against such a background, our project, which reflects the spot-on architectural trends of today, logically becomes the centerpiece in terms of visual perception.


The outward appearance of the two buildings interprets the commercial name of the complex – “Clouds”. The sky is clearly read in all of its colors; the facades are turned into a semblance of a palette, using which the artist mixed up the shades of color to paint a picture of a cloudy sky. The main background color is light gray, almost white, like a foggy sky on an overcast day. Over it, there are stroke accents of dark graphite spots and vertical lines – the thunderclouds. And next to them, there are flashes of light, splashes of gray, gray-greenish, and pale blue – as if the fog and clouds at some point scattered and in the gaps appeared pieces of a clear sky.

“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Mezonproekt


“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


However, you can only see this picture if you look at the house from the yard. The street facades and the side ends are dominated by a “thunderstorm” dark-gray. The dark parts of the buildings gravitate towards the flyover; the light ones overlook the yard. The wide pixel-and-stroke pattern in the cold pastel tones makes the house look fresh, partially making up for the simplicity of its form.

Such a vivid perception of the volume was achieved through the alternation of fiber cement panels of the ventilated facade. They are different not only in color but also in size and texture. A lot of attention is drawn by dark textured relief panels with a vertical and a horizontal pattern. In the residential part, they are echoed by the grates of the air conditioning units, and in the office part they single-handedly create a dynamic image of the construction. In that section, the panels encase the windows with black frames, which alternate, changing the proportions of the window apertures, and this seemingly simple technique goes a long way to liven up the facades. Only the top four floors of the office block “call to order” with their clear vertical lines.

  • zooming
    1 / 3
    “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED
  • zooming
    2 / 3
    “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED
  • zooming
    3 / 3
    “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


The housing complex is positioned as a comfort class. It features the traditional range of apartments – from studios to three-room ones.

  • zooming
    1 / 7
    Sections 1-5. Plan of the 1st floor. Section 6. Plan of the 1st floor. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    2 / 7
    Sections 1-5. Plan of the 2nd floor at elevation +3.600. Section 6. Plan of the 2nd floor at elevation +1.650. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    3 / 7
    Sections 1-3. Plan of the 15th-17th floors at elevations +40.650; +43.500; +46.350. Sections 4-5. Plan of the roof at elevation +41.122. Section 6. Plan of the 8th-17th floors at elevations +21.600 – 47.250. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    4 / 7
    Sections 1-5. Plan of the 3rd-14th floors at elevations +6.450 – +37.800. Section 6. Plan of the 3rd-7th floors at elevations +4.500 – +18.750. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    5 / 7
    Section view 1-1. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    6 / 7
    Section view 2-2. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt
  • zooming
    7 / 7
    Section view 3-3. “Oblaka” housing complex
    Copyright: © Mezonproekt


At the same time, the public zones and the yard spaces offer a whole array of solutions that are generally not to be found in housing projects of this class. The entrances to the hallways are barrier-free, almost on a level with the pavement. A small drop is smoothed out by a ramp, which is extremely convenient for mothers with strollers, cyclists, and people with disabilities.

“Oblaka” housing complex
Copyright: © Photo courtesy by 3-RED


The bottom floors are occupied by stores, cafés, and, of course, entrance groups with lobbies. The latter also look much more than comfort class – spacious, well-lit, with designer interiors.



The yard is not just closed and guarded – it is also completely car-free. The whole, even if a little too small territory of the yard is occupied by sports facilities and playgrounds, the guest parking places being situated on the outer contour of the compound.

This way, the architects achieved a feeling of peace and quiet on the territory of the complex. In this situation, the isolated yard looks more than appropriate and justified – it forms the necessary boundary, without which living here would not be as comfortable. Taking a defensive position towards the environment – a closed composition, windows with increased noise insulation, and a limited-access area – the complex still strives to become part of it. Because now, when riding a suburban train past Lyubertsy, you will see “Clouds”.


07 December 2020

Alla Pavlikova

Written by:

Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
Julius Borisov: “The “Island” housing complex is a unique project – we took it on with...
One of the largest housing projects of today’s Moscow – the “Ostrov” (“Island”) housing complex built by Donstroy – is now being actively built in the Mnevniky Floodplain. They are planning to build about 1.5M square meters of housing on an area of almost 40 hectares. We are beginning to examine this project– first of all, we are talking to Julius Borisov, the head of the architectural company UNK, which works with most of the residential blocks in this grand-scale project, as well as with the landscaping part; the company even proposed a single design code for the entire territory.
A Balanced Solution
The residential complex “Balance” on Moscow’s Ryazansky Prospekt is one of the large-scale, and relatively economical (again, by Moscow standards) housing projects. Its first phase has already been built and landscaped; the work on the others is in progress. Nevertheless, it has an integral internal logic, which is based on the balance of functions, height, and even image and space composition. The proposed solutions are recognizable and laconic, so that each of them was reduced by the authors to a graphic “logo”. To see everything, you have to flip through the pages and look through to the end.
Horror Vacui
In the city of Omsk, ASADOV architects took on a very challenging task: they are developing a concept of a public and residential complex, which involves reconstructing the city’s first thermal power station standing right next to Omsk’s first fortress. This territory has already seen a lot of projects designed for it, and the residential function of this land site has been the subject of heated debate. In this article, we are examining the project in question, aimed at developing a mid-scale city fabric suited for the historical center. We also examine the above-mentioned debate. Seriously, will this project save this place or will it bring it to ruin?
A Multi-Faced Grotto
This building, seemingly small, unremarkable, semi-ruined, and not even very ancient – the Grotto in the Bauman Garden – was restored by the “People’s Architect” architectural company with all the care applicable to a heritage monument. They preserved the romantic appeal of the ruins, added multimedia content, and explored the cascading fountain, which, as it turned out, was completely preserved. Brace yourself for a long story!
First among Equals
The building of a kindergarten in the town of Beloyarsky is more than just another example of a modern educational space. Its design began a long time ago; it is located in Russia’s Far North; it is also a state-owned facility that is subject to regulations, and had to cut costs during construction (as usual). However, the design is contemporary, the layout is modern, and the building feels very fresh. The project is planned to be replicated.
Gustave Falconnier
In the “ruin” wing of Moscow’s Museum of Architecture, an exhibition of “glass bricks” by Gustave Falconnier is open. These “bricks” are essentially the predecessors of glass blocks, but more complex and beautiful. The exhibition shows genuine “bricks”, buildings composed of them, the history of the destruction of Falconnier windows in the building of the State Archives, and it also became one of the reasons to revive this unique production technology.
​Streamline for City Canyons
Stepan Liphart has designed two houses for two small land sites situated in the area surrounding the Varshavsky Railway Station, which is being intensively developed now. The sites are situated close but not next to each other, and they are different, yet similar: the theme is the same but it is interpreted in different ways. In this issue, we are examining and comparing both projects.
​The Eastern Frontier
“The Eastern Arc” is one of the main land resources of Kazan’s development, concentrated in the hands of a single owner. The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a concept for the integrated development of this territory based on an analytical transport model that will create a comfortable living environment, new centers of attraction, and new workplaces as well.
A School of Our Time
On the eve of the presentation of the new book by ATRIUM, dedicated to the design of schools and other educational facilities, based on the architects’ considerable experience, as well as expert judgments, we are examining the Quantum STEM school building, constructed according to their project in Astana. Furthermore, this building is planned to be the first one to start a new chain. The architects designed it in full accordance with modern standards but sometimes they did break away from them – only to confirm the general development rules. For example, there are two amphitheaters in the atrium, and there is an artificial hill in the yard that is meant to make the flat terrain of the Kazakhstan steppe more eventful.
The Fluffy Space
Designing the passenger terminal of the Orenburg airport, ASADOV architects continue to explore the space theme that they first introduced in Saratov and Kemerovo airports. At the same time, the architects again combine the global and the local, reflecting topics inspired by the local conceptual context. In this case, the building is “covered” by an Orenburg downy shawl – an analogy that is recognizable enough, yet not literal; some will see the reference and some won’t.
The White Fitness Center
The white health and fitness center, designed by Futura Architects at the entrance to St. Petersburg’s New Piter residential complex, provides the developing area not only with functional but also with sculptural diversity, livening up the rows of the brick city blocks with the whiteness of its seamless facades, cantilevered structures, and dynamic inclined lines.
The New Dawn
In their project of a technology park to be built on the grounds of “Integrated Home-Building Factory 500” in Tyumen Oblast – the biggest in Russia – the HADAA architects preserve not just the industrial function of the giant hangar built in the late 1980s and 90% of its structures, but also respond to its imagery. They also propose a “gradient” approach to developing the available areas: from open public ones to staff-only professional spaces. The goal of this approach is to turn the technology park into the driver for developing the business function between the industrial zones and the future residential area in accordance with the Integrated Land Development program.
​Tame Hills for New Residents
T+T Architects have reported that they have completed the landscaping project for the yard of the first stage of Alexandrovsky Garden housing complex in Ekaterinburg – the landscape complements the contextual architecture, tailored for the buyers’ preferences and downtown standards, with bold neo modernist master strokes and lush and diverse vegetation.
The Crystal of the City Block
The typology and plastique of large housing complexes move with the times, and you can sometimes find new subtleties in the scope of seemingly familiar solutions. The Sky Garden complex combines two well-known themes, forming a giant residential area consisting of tall slender towers, placed at the perimeter of a large yard, in which a crossroads of two pedestrian promenades is “dissolved”.
Sunshine, Air, and Water
The construction of the “Solnechny” (“Sunny”) summer camp, designed by ARENA project institute, has been completed, the largest summer camp within the legendary Artek seaside resort for children. It was conceived still in Soviet time, but it was not implemented. The modern version surprises you with sophisticated engineering solutions that are combined with a clear-cut structure: together, they generate Asher-esque spaces.
​Art Deco at the Edge of Space
The competition project by Stepan Liphart – a high-end residential complex executed in a reserved classicist style in close proximity to the Kaluga Space Museum – responds equally well to the context and to the client’s brief. It is moderately respectable, moderately mobile and transparent, and it even digs a little into the ground to comply with strict height restrictions, without losing proportions and scale.
​A Hill behind the Wall
The master plan of a new residential area in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, developed by the Genplan Institute of Moscow with the participation of Kengo Kuma & Associates, is based on the complexities and advantages of the relief of the foothills: the houses are arranged in cascades, and multi-level improvement penetrates all the blocks, continuing in forest trails.
Going, Going, Gone!
The housing complex “Composers’ Residences” has been built in accordance with the project by Sergey Skuratov, who won the international competition back in 2011. It all began from the image search and “cutting off all spare”, and then implementing the recognizable Skuratov architecture. It all ended, however, in tearing down the buildings of the Schlichterman factory, whose conservation was stipulated by all the appropriate agencies prior to approving Skuratov’s project. This story seems to be educational and important for understanding the history of all the eleven years, during which the complex was designed and built.
The Life of Iron
The building of the Vyksa Metallurgy Museum, designed by Nikita Yavein and Sergey Padalko, provides for the natural aging of metal – it is planned that the iron will gradually rust – at the same time utilizing the advanced type of construction, based on metal’s ability to stretch. The building will be constructed from pipes and rolled steel supplied by OMK company, as well as from recycled bricks.
​And the Brook is Flowing
ASADOV Architects have designed a master plan for developing a residential area at the outskirts of Kaliningrad: a regular grid of housing blocks is enriched by large-scale public facilities, the main “artery” of the new area being the fortification channel that regains its original function.
Off We Go!
The new terminal of the Tomsk airport is being designed by ASADOV bureau. The architects keep on developing its identity, building the imagery upon the inventions of Nikolai Kamov, whose name the airport bears. The result is laconic, light, and, as always, levitating.
Maximum Flexibility
The Multispace Dinamo, which recently opened within the Arena business center, is an example of a project that is entirely based upon cutting-edge approaches and technologies. It is managed via a mobile application, special software was created for it, and the spaces are not just multifunctional but carefully mixed up, like some kind of jigsaw puzzle that allows the office workers to mix their working routine for better efficiency.
A Factory’s Path
Last week, the new center for constructivist studies “Zotov” hosted its first exhibition named “1922. Constructivism. The Inception”. The idea of creating this center belongs to Sergey Tchoban, while the project of the nearest houses and adjusting the building of the bread factory for the new museum function was done by the architect in collaboration with his colleagues from SPEECH. We decided that such a complex project should be examined in its entirety – and this is how we came up with this long-read about constructivism on Presnya, conservation, innovation, multilayered approach, and hope.
The Savelovsky Axis
The business center, situated right in the middle of a large city junction next to the Savelovsky Railway Station takes on the role of a spatial axis, upon which the entire place hinges: it spins like a spiral, alternating perfect glass of the tiers and deep recessions of inter-tier floors that conceal little windows invented by the architects. It is sculptural, and it claims the role of a new city landmark, in spite of its relatively small height of nine floors.
Parametric Waves
In the housing complex Sydney City, which FSK Group is building in the area of Shelepikhinskaya Embankment, Genpro designed the central city block, combining parametric facades and modular technology within its architecture.
The Multitone
The new interior of the Action Development headquarters can be regarded as an attempt to design the perfect “home” for the company – not just comfortable but broadcasting the values of modern development. It responds to the context, yet it is built on contrast, it is fresh but cozy, it is dynamic, yet it invites you to relax – everything of this coexists here quite harmoniously, probably because the architects found an appropriate place for each of the themes.
Refinement No Longer Relevant
A few days ago journalists were shown the building of Bread Factory #5, renovated upon the project by Sergey Tchoban. In this issue, we are publishing Grigory Revzin’s thoughts about this project.
The Comb of Strelna
In this issue, we are taking a close look at the project that won the “Crystal Daedalus” award – the “Veren Village” housing complex in Strelna, designed by Ostozhenka. Its low-rise format became a trigger for typological and morphological experiments – seemingly, we are seeing recognizable trends, yet at the same time there are a multitude of subtleties that are a pleasure to go into. Having studied this project in detail, we think that the award is well-deserved.
A Tectonic Shift
For several years now, Futura Architects have been working with the “New Peter” residential area in the south of St. Petersburg. In this article, we are covering their most recent project – a house, in which the architects’ architectural ideas peacefully coexist with the limitations of comfort-class housing, producing a “multilayered” effect that looks very attractive for this typology.
Three “Green” Stories
In this issue, we are examining three environmental urban projects showcased by the Genplan Institute of Moscow at the Zodchestvo festival. The scale of the projects is really diverse: from gathering information and suggestions from the residents on a city scale to growing meadow grass between houses to paintings, which, as it turned out, possess power to cure trees, healing their wounded bark. + a list of kinds of plants natural for Moscow to help the developer.