The location where the Akzent building stands is quite remarkable for the concentration of urban phenomena from various eras, and yet it unmistakably preserves the spirit of St. Petersburg, which can’t be defined solely by its grand avenues. For instance, when residents step outside onto Pomyalovsky Street, they will see the remnants of the earthen bastions of the Nyenschantz Fortress. At least, that’s what Wikimapia claims: archaeologists suggest, and simple comparison of the fortress plan with a modern map supports, that the elevated terrain relative to the street is a reminder of the first fortifications on St. Petersburg’s land.

The second key feature defining the context is the proximity of water. Stepping out onto the same Pomyalovsky Street and turning their head to the left, residents of the building will see either the blue or steel waters of the Neva, depending on the weather. A short walk to the right leads to the banks of the Okhta River, which outlines the cape where the Gazprom Neft headquarters is being constructed – right on the site of that very fortress. Within a comfortable distance are two other major business centers: the city’s administration in Smolny and the Saint Petersburg Plaza, with its recognizable tower, popularly known as the “kettle”.

Despite all this, life in Malaya Okhta is not exactly bustling. The DAA design quarter, which has taken over the former Central Design Bureau of Machine Building area, hasn’t really made an impact yet, likely due to the area’s complex transportation access. Additionally, there are no prominent parks or public spaces nearby. The neighborhoods, made up of buildings from different eras, are surrounded by tall trees and maintain a slightly sleepy tranquility.

It is in such a neighborhood that the Akzent has appeared. Its closest neighbor on the Malo-Okhtinskaya Embankment is the Vasily Kokorev Orphanage, built in 1911. During Soviet times, it housed the Dynamo photo materials factory. The new building occupies the space of the warehouses and utility rooms built in the Soviet era in the backyard of the orphanage. Other key players in the vicinity include a neoclassical tenement devoid of decoration, Stalin-era and Khrushchev-era “slabs”, a college from the 1990s, and a 2005 residential complex aptly named “The Big House on the Neva”. Just around the corner is the red-brick Novocherskassky Regiment Barracks complex.

According to Stepan Liphart, it was quite challenging to create a recognizable and cohesive image from such a diverse context. One of the early design options involved seeking inspiration from the dialogue with early 20th-century income house architects, particularly Aleksei Bubyr. However, this idea didn’t resonate with the client. This led to a design approach that was more “hand-drawn and sketched” than strictly intellectual. And as we see it, the architect’s artistic intuition did not fail: despite choosing a style that had never existed in this location before, the building turned out to be quite in tune with its surroundings.