Monchegorsk is a single-industry town that was formed back in 1937 due to the discovery of copper and nickel deposits and the opening of the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company, which is now part of Nornickel. Until recently, this place was a bit scary to live in: industrial emissions caused the concentration of sulfur compounds and other substances in the air to be such that hectares of forest on the leeward side were dying. However, Nornickel is gradually modernizing its production, making it more environmentally friendly, and shifting towards “white metallurgy”. For example, in 2021, the copper shop in Monchegorsk was shut down to be replaced with a new copper refining plant; its environmental impact is expected to be minimal.

To attract specialists for the new production facility, Nornickel plans to build housing of its own. Two years ago, a competition was held for the project. We told you about the competition quite a long time ago, and now we have an opportunity to take a closer look at the winning project – it has some interesting solutions in it. The authors of the project are a consortium of NIIPI Gradplan of Moscow, Dialectica (Spectrum Group) and the Dutch company Atelier PRO.

Metallurgists in the tundra

The name of the city comes from the Sami word “moncha”, which means “beautiful”, but this definition so far refers exclusively to the surrounding nature. Monchegorsk is located far above the Arctic Circle, between the Lapland Reserve and Lake Bolshaya Imandra, in the Monchetundra and Chunatundra mountain ranges. It is surrounded by hills and rocks, rivers and lakes.

Monchegorsk itself essentially consists of the Kola MMC, which occupies almost a third of the city, five-story Khrushchev-era buildings and wide streets blown through by an icy wind. There are also many water bodies within the city limits – lakes of various sizes and, again, the Moncha River. The neighborhood of the natural and man-made is reflected in the names of the streets: near Metallurgov Avenue and Nickel Highway there are Moroshkovaya (a kind of local berry) and Lesnaya (“Forest”) Streets.

The residential complex will occupy a plot of land that is now empty and divides the established neighborhoods. It is planned to build a cultural and leisure center and an ice arena in the same quarter – the city is very fond of sports. There are a lot of trees growing on the site; on three sides it is surrounded by water bodies, which gives ample opportunities for the arrangement of recreational areas. If all the projects are implemented, the site will claim the status of a central location, including in terms of concentration of public functions – which will be the right thing, as it is located in the layout center of Monchegorsk.

Each consortium member had its own tasks. NIIPI Gradplan was in charge of territory planning, while Dialectica, together with Atelier PRO, was responsible for the master plan and architecture. Spectrum Group, of which Dialectica is a part, helped with the structural design, soil studies, insolation and the “wind blowing” factor, which played a role in the jury’s choice of this project. It takes into account the main “challenges” of the city: icy winds, monotonous buildings and lack of public spaces.

Against the wind

One of the significant factors that influenced the layout of the neighborhood was the wind, which affects the residents of Monchegorsk. Because of this, the authors immediately turned to perimeter development and placed a kindergarten and a school in the center of the future micro-district, thus creating an area protected from the wind and endowed with urban significance: the school is planned to be used as a community center during extracurricular hours, and events for children and adults will be held there.

Luckily, there are no through streets where the wind could pick up any serious speed, the air flows are crushed by the frontal buildings of the outer perimeter, while inside they are separated and regulated by stylobates. On the other hand, it was necessary not only to protect the interior spaces from the wind, but also to ensure constant ventilation: since, as we remember, the ecological situation in the city is still far from ideal, it is important to avoid stagnation of industrial emissions. For ventilation, air corridors were provided, which are planned to be formed with the help of natural terrain, minor architectural objects, and green spaces.

After all the preliminary calculations – and this is where it gets interesting – modern technologies were involved: Spectrum Group “blew” the layout options in the Ansys software environment until it calmed down the air flows in all pedestrian spaces and courtyards. The calculations also involved the insolation factor – the architects started by making a “shadow map” of the city, which helped them to determine the best location of residential facades and playgrounds; parking lots and covered pavilions were also placed on shaded areas.

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Our task was to offer a comfortable and compact urban environment, designed for pedestrian accessibility of services and social infrastructure, with a highly developed system of public spaces, and with a recognizable urban silhouette and eye-catching highlights. At the same time, we had to take into account the specifics of the climate and environmental situation, minimize the negative aspects, and enhance the positive ones. This approach will create a synergetic effect that can attract potential new residents and reduce population decline. Calculations to increase the economic potential of territories are one of the important skills of the consortium’s specialists.

I think our solution could become an example of developing Arctic single-industry towns according to the methodology of reducing the impact of harsh climatic conditions – and at the same time designing a modern image.