The Waver residential complex is planned for construction in the Parkovy microdistrict. Today this part of the city is considered fairly central, but in the 19th century Vostochnaya Street marked the boundary of Yekaterinburg. The block on which KPLN is working lies between the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant – to which we will return later – and residential districts built mainly in the 1980s to house its employees.



Like its predecessor, Waver is set back from Vostochnaya Street, creating a wide landscaped boulevard with the character of a small square in front of it, flanked on the west by a three-story brick building. The street frontage is held by an eight-story section that acts as a link between a 100-meter tower and a terraced building rising to eleven stories. The taller sections face Vostochnaya Street with their end facades and extend deep into the block, forming a cozy courtyard.



This placement of the building responds both to insolation regulations and to the architects’ intention to give the block clearer urban contours. The terraced section marks the corner and supports the internal block driveway. Judging by the developer’s renderings, further development of the site remains possible, making the solution fully justified from the urban planning standpoint. The setback from the line of Vostochnaya Street also reduces traffic noise and allows the three-story brick building – constructed in 1927-1929 for workers of the Lenin Weaving Factory – to retain its presence.





For the architects of KPLN, the true genius loci demanding attention and preservation is the flax spinning and weaving factory. It was founded back in 1898 by the brothers Ivan and Vasily Makarov. After the revolution, the nationalized enterprise was renamed in 1923 to become “Sverdlovsk Lenin Flax Spinning and Weaving Factory”. Today its site is occupied by the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant. Several red-brick buildings have survived in a scattered state – including the three-story structure mentioned above.

The theme of textiles, threads, and woven fabric becomes the leading motif in the treatment of the façades. The principal device is a ribbon of perforated weathered steel that interlaces with vertical bands of terracotta clinker tile or textured plaster. At the points of intersection, air-conditioning units are concealed behind the volumetric elements. Such an extensive use of “rust-colored” steel in a residential project will likely be a precedent.





The weathered-steel-and-clinker thread wraps around the entire complex, tying its different parts into a single plastic composition that has no secondary viewpoints. At the same time, the complex lends itself easily to a kind of “morphological” analysis.



The 29-story tower, rising to about 100 meters, is the unquestionable vertical dominant and may also claim the status of an accent. There are at least three reasons for this. The first is the façade device already mentioned. It is reinforced by the building’s tiers: the tower narrows and then slightly swells again, making the volume seem to pulse gently and the ribbons appear to sway as if stirred by a fresh breeze. A third layer of complexity is introduced by a slight “break” relative to the central axis, a move required to improve sunlight exposure and achieve more scenic views. Architectural lighting also plays an active role.







Within the textile metaphor, the tower can be compared – if not to a spindle – then to the blade of a spinning wheel, slender enough to support the analogy.



The building’s “base”, which connects the two sections, corresponds in height to the surrounding microdistrict. South-facing terraces add several steps to the silhouette, further emphasizing the ribbon motif of the facades.







The courtyard occupies the entire roof of the parking structure and extends beyond it to the boundaries of the plot. The theme of textiles continues in the landscape design: geoplastic shaping and raised planting beds create a “folded” relief, while weaving patterns appear in the paving and in the interlacing of pedestrian paths. Braided elements are also planned for outdoor furniture and the playground, where ropes and net structures will be used in new ways. The courtyard space will be complemented by a terrace – an intimate place that residents will be able to reach by a staircase.





Studios will make up only about 10 percent of all apartments in the complex. A number of unusual formats are also planned: apartments with space for a wood-burning fireplace, terraces, and panoramic glazing. The podium parking accommodates 60 cars as well as a series of storage rooms ranging from 2 to 7 square meters. A “through design” approach will also shape the lobbies and other common areas, where the theme of weaving will receive further development.



Construction of Waver is expected to be completed no later than 2045, and it will likely not be the last contemporary complex in the area. At the very least, the master plan of Yekaterinburg indicates that the territory of the neighboring Pneumostroymashina plant will, by 2045, be redeveloped as a mixed-use and public-business district. In any case, it will be interesting to see to what extent the project’s vivid material palette and active plasticity might influence the concepts of future developments.