At the opening of the Leonov Airport, I met the governor of the Kemerovo Region, Sergey Tsivilyov, and he suggested that we get involved in the project to develop the area near Pritomsky Avenue, which was already being developed by our local colleagues. Having studied their experience, as well as the peculiarities of the city, we formed neighborhoods and then maximized the number of stories. The contours are accentuated by towers reaching the maximum allowed height of 50 meters, the rest of the houses have several levels of height ranging from 4 to 15 floors. The bulk of the development faces the river, schools and kindergartens are located in the depths, and several accent towers “hold” the front of Pritomsky Avenue. We tried to both capture the spirit of the harsh Siberian expanses and contrast them with a modern structure.

The task of making a convenient master plan and interesting facades was complicated by the need to take into account the wind pattern, harsh winters, and the district’s location on the first line from the river, as well as seismicity. The blocks are formed in such a way as to avoid wind corridors, to make the environment cozy, and from the apartments to reveal views of the river and the city. Taking into account the amount of precipitation, the volumes of the houses are laconic, with no protruding cantilevers or active plastique on the facades to avoid additional cold bridges. At the same time, the facades are more detailed at eye level: this makes the environment looks friendlier and more diverse. We also took into account the overall appearance of the buildings standing on the navigable Tomsk River side.

The visual axes are anchored by accent buildings with a height of 24 floors: they are visible from afar, they have more active plasticity and developed decor – for example, arched windows, dentils, shifts in the window grid. Derived from the accents are the dominant towers, which stand out physically due to their height of 9-15 floors. Together with the dominant towers, they form a silhouette and become landmarks. Accents are shaded by background architecture of 4-6 floors – calm, but not monotonous, as it varies the combination of colors or plastic solutions.

All three building types form a rhythmic and varied environment without visual “noise”. We introduce only two colors: terracotta “grounds” the building and white dematerializes the volumes. The upper floors of high-rise buildings are characterized by the visual consolidation of windows. These techniques create a sense of lower storey height.