По-русски

​Wicker Vitality

Next to the Dubrovka metro station, ADM has designed a Vitality housing complex with a polychrome mixture of Klinker brick on its ridged facades.

Natalia Koriakovskaia

Written by:
Natalia Koriakovskaia
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

16 April 2020
Object
mainImg
The housing complex Vitality is situated behind the front of Stalin houses standing along the Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street, and consists of two 15 and 16-story buildings: the position of one of them follows the construction line along the boulevard; the other stands at a right angle to the Mashinostroeniya Street. This composition came from the original L-shaped “open book” volume that the architects ultimately divided into two independent buildings. To close the yard perimeter, they also added a building equipped with a noise screen standing on the 1st Mashinostroeniya Street. Thus, the vacant place in the block housing construction of the mid-XX century got filled by another similar “cell” with a prominent yard and a street front.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


On the other hand, this is the only thing that the new complex and the surrounding construction have in common. The new buildings “make no secret” of their modern language, demonstrating a fundamentally new scale and structure of facades. The ratio of the wall substance and the glazing part is rather modernist, which is further emphasized by the glazed side ends of the buildings, as well as by “taking away” the mass at the corners, where recessed balconies are added. On the other hand, the main facade decoration material used by ADM is Klinker brick, and the architects are using it abundantly in the “thick” plastique elements, such as triangular pylons and the “red” unit. And this “corporeality” is very Moscow in its nature.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


The design of both buildings is based on ADM’s signature technique of articulating the modular grid. The scale and plastique of this modular grid is different on each of the buildings. In the “white” building, the wide triple windows are separated by thick wave-shaped fills, which forms an effect very much like a wicker basket. The brick pattern is the same all over the building, yet when it is viewed from the side, it creates a “meander” effect. “If you are designing a facade grid, you need to use very good materials” – Andrey Romanov says. The accentuated geometry of the “belts” is highlighted by different directions of the brickwork and by different types of brick being used: specially for this project, the architects, in collaboration with the German brick manufacturer, developed brick of unique designer tones. According to the leader of the company, working with the brick was particularly interesting; it was done at the German production facility, where new brick samples were created, together with a representative of the development company.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


The full rich tone, the beauty of which one will only be able to appreciate when the building is finished, is further decorated by the bronze hue of openwork grilles. There are no balconies behind the grilles; these are recessions for the air conditioning units. Hiding the external air conditioning units inside the wall became one of the common construction decencies in this city about five years ago. Lately, this measure has also been appreciated by the residents themselves. “About six years ago, people who lived in housing of such class were not ready to stretch the air conditioning lines up to the public balcony. Now, however, in the housing that costs 200 thousand rubles per square meter and higher, people are ready to spend extra 50-60 thousand on a more powerful air conditioning unit, and not banter with the management company” – Andrey Romanov says.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: Photograph: Larus Capital


At the client’s request, the first floor of the “white” building also includes apartments – apartments with balconies. These will ensure the residents’ privacy and help to avoid the “peeping” effect. “Designing balconies on the first floor, you are getting a buffer zone, a terrace. We’ve got the apartment floors raised above the ground level, and, when you are inside, the person is protected by the depth of this terrace, so you cannot see them from the outside, and neither can they. This is something like a bonus for the residents of the bottom floors because apartments on the first floor are always a little less popular” – the architect adds.

Plan of the 1st floor. High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


The contrasting “red” building features a grid with more elongated vertical cells, “French” windows reaching to the floor, and sculptural pier buttresses of triangular section, whose sharp rib is accentuated by a thin graphical flute.

All across the complex, the facades are composed of solid bricks, and, to compensate for the sheer weight of the brickwork, the architects are placing it on the intermediate floors, thus alleviating the load of the subsystem and making the whole construction safer and more predictable. In this building, the first floor is non-residential – the side end, facing the 1st Mashinostroeniya Street, includes commercial premises; the opposite end is occupied by the ramp of the underground parking garage.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


The apartment range of the new complex is rather diverse and quite up to today’s standards: from single-room apartments about 40 square meters to three-room apartments about 91 square meters – the latter are double-sided, and can be aired through. From two rooms and higher, the apartments are equipped with two bathrooms. In many cases, the apartments feature a “kitchen / living room”; in some cases, especially in double-room apartments, there is a kitchen equipped with a recessed balcony, not really visible from the outside.

High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


There are no dedicated reception desks in the buildings’ entrance groups – instead, they have a common lobby situated in the entrance unit. This entrance unit was placed by the architects in the street front, in the same row with the maintenance premises and the glass noise screen, which yielded a full-fledged green yard. To preserve the grownup trees on the land site, the entrance unit was designed in such a way as to form alcoves that “embrace” the tree trunks and crowns.

  • zooming
    1 / 3
    High-end residential complex Vitality
    Copyright: © ADM
  • zooming
    2 / 3
    High-end residential complex Vitality
    Copyright: © ADM
  • zooming
    3 / 3
    High-end residential complex Vitality
    Copyright: © ADM


“The hot trend of the last five-seven years is high-quality landscape design, absolutely on the European level. Twenty years ago nobody appreciated this at all – the developer could pay some attention to the facades and then launch the sales without so much as saying a word about the vehicle-fee yard or the landscaping project. And now, if you don’t offer such things, nobody will buy your product” – Andrey Romanov says. In the Vitality complex, the territory of the yard rises in a hilly terrain, in which two main zones are formed – the recreation area and the playground. Above the parking lot, there is enough soil for planting large trees and making actual hills. The square paving pattern becomes the motif that unites the yard space.

  • zooming
    1 / 7
    High-end residential complex Vitality: construction, 2020
    Copyright: Photograph: Larus Capital
  • zooming
    2 / 7
    High-end residential complex Vitality: construction, 2020
    Copyright: Photograph: Larus Capital
  • zooming
    3 / 7
    High-end residential complex Vitality: construction, 2020
    Copyright: Photograph: Larus Capital
  • zooming
    4 / 7
    High-end residential complex Vitality: construction, 2020
    Copyright: Photograph: Larus Capital
  • zooming
    5 / 7
    High-end residential complex Vitality: construction, 2020
    Copyright: Photograph © ADM
  • zooming
    6 / 7
    Facade. High-end residential complex Vitality
    Copyright: © ADM
  • zooming
    7 / 7
    Facade. High-end residential complex Vitality
    Copyright: © ADM
Plan of the 5th floor High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM
High-end residential complex Vitality
Copyright: © ADM


16 April 2020

Natalia Koriakovskaia

Written by:

Natalia Koriakovskaia
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
New “Flight”
Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.
The Yauza Towers
In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.
Architecture and Leisure Park
For the suburban hotel complex, which envisages various formats of leisure, the architectural company T+T Architects proposed several types of accommodation, ranging from the classic “standard” in a common building to a “cave in the hill” and a “house in a tree”. An additional challenge consisted in integrating a few classic-style residences already existing on this territory into the “architectural forest park”.
The U-House
The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.
Black and White
In this article, we specifically discuss the interiors of the ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh. Interior design is a crucial component of the overall concept in this case, and precision and meticulous execution were highly important for the architects. Julia Tryaskina, head of UNK interiors, shares some of the developments.
The “Snake” Mountain
The competition project for the seaside resort complex “Serpentine” combines several typologies: apartments of different classes, villas, and hotel rooms. For each of these typologies, the KPLN architects employ one of the images that are drawn from the natural environment – a serpentine road, a mountain stream, and rolling waves.
Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring
The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.
Feed ’Em All
A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.
The Ensemble at the Mosque
OSA prepared a master plan for a district in the southern part of Derbent. The main task of the master plan is to initiate the formation of a modern comfortable environment in this city. The organization of residential areas is subordinated to the city’s spiritual center: depending on the location relative to the cathedral mosque, the houses are distinguished by façade and plastique solutions. The program also includes a “hospitality center”, administrative buildings, an educational cluster, and even an air bridge.
Pargolovo Protestantism
A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.
The Shape of the Inconceivable
The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.
​Rays of the Desert
A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.
The Dairy Theme
The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.
The Road to the Temple
Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.
​Towers Leaning Towards the Sun
The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.
In the spirit of ROSTA posters
The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.
The Northern Thebaid
The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.
Brilliant Production
The architects from London-based MOST Architecture have designed the space for the high-tech production of Charge Cars, a high-performance production facility for high-speed electric cars that are assembled in the shell of legendary Ford Mustangs. The founders of both the company and the car assembly startup are Russians who were educated in their home country.
Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor
The so-called “Mytny Dvor” area lying just behind Moscow Railway Station – the market rows with a complex history – will be transformed into a premium residential complex by Studio 44. The project consists of three parts: the restoration of historical buildings, the reconstruction of the lost part of the historical contour, and new houses. All of them are harmonized with each other and with the city; axes and “beams of light” were found, cozy corners and scenic viewpoints were carefully thought out. We had a chat with the authors of the historical buildings’ restoration project, and we are telling you about all the different tasks that have been solved here.
The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement
In 2022, Ostozhenka Architects won a competition, and in 2023, they developed and received all the necessary approvals for a master plan for the development of Chernigovskaya Street for the developer GloraX. The project takes into account a 10-year history of previous developments; it was done in collaboration with architects from Nizhny Novgorod, and it continues to evolve now. We carefully examined it, talked to everyone, and learned a lot of interesting things.
A Single-Industry Town
Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.
A New Age Portico
At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.
A New Starting Point
We’ve been wanting to examine the RuArts Foundation space, designed by ATRIUM for quite a long time, and we finally got round to it. This building looks appropriate and impressive; it amazingly combines tradition – represented in our case by galleries – and innovation. In this article, we delve into details and study the building’s historical background as well.
Molding Perspectives
Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.
An Educational Experiment for the North
City-Arch continues to work on the projects that can be termed as “experimental public preschools”: private kindergartens and schools can envy such facilities in many respects. This time around, the project is done for the city of Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. A diverse educational and play environment, including a winter garden, awaits future students, while the teachers will have abundant opportunities to implement new practices.
Alexandra Kuzmina: “Working is easy when the rules are the same for everyone”
The subject matter of Moscow Region’s booth and presentations at Zodchestvo Festival was the concept of “Integrated Land Development”, and for a good reason: this task is very challenging, very relevant, and Moscow Region has already accumulated quite a formidable experience in this regard. In this article, we are speaking to the main architect of the region: about master plans and who makes them, about where you obtain resources for creating a comfortable environment, about her favorite projects, about why there are so few good architects, and what we should do with the bad ones.
The Cemetery: Inside and Outside
The workshop organized by the Genplan Institute of Moscow scored one of the two first places at the “Open City” festival. Its subject is reorganization of municipal cemeteries. Two action plans were proposed, diametrically opposite: one for the downtown and one for the suburbs.
Our Everything
Who is Alexey Shchusev? In the last couple of weeks, since the architect’s 150th birthday, different individuals have answered this question differently. The most detailed, illustrated, and elegantly presented response is an exhibition held in two buildings of the Museum of Architecture on Vozdvizhenka. Four curators, a year and a half of work performed by the entire museum, and exhibition design by Sergey Tchoban and Alexandra Sheiner – in this article, we take you on a tour of the exhibition and show what’s what in it.
For Mental Reboot
At the architectural competition held in 2023 in Novosibirsk, the project by GORA Architects – a pedestrian bridge leading to the town of Bor – was awarded the “Golden Capital” prize. In this country, more than a hundred pedestrian bridges are constructed each year. What makes the Bor bridge different?
Gold Embroidery
A five-story housing complex designed by Stepan Liphart in Kazan, responds to the stylistically diverse context with its form, both integral and agile, and as for the vicinity of the “Ekiyat” movie theater, the complex responds to it with a semblance of theater curtain folds, and active plastique of its balconies, that bear some resemblance to theater boxes. Even if excessively pompous a little bit, the complex does look fresh and modern. One will have a hard time finding Art Deco elements in it, even though the spirit of the 1930s, run through the filter of neo-modernism, is still clearly felt, just as a twist of the Occident.