It must be admitted that the intersection of Sevastopolsky and Nakhimovsky avenues is a rather dull place in terms of the visual environment. This part of the city was built up mainly in the 1970s, and the only decoration of the intersection until recently was a rather ordinary-looking stele topped with a golden ship - a monument to the heroism and valor of Black Sea sailors - and the side facade of the famous Bastille, a record-breaking 1977 residential building th year of construction. It was in front of the end of this experimental creation of Soviet urban planners that a plot was allocated for the construction of a new office complex.
“The location at the very crossroads and the neighborhood with a very long, horizontally oriented volume, of course, dictated the need to build a high-rise dominant here,” says architect Pavel Andreev. - However, the height of the site was regulated, and we could not convince the chief architect of Moscow to change this parameter. As a result, the building turned out to be only 12-storeyed, and, not being able to make it higher, we tried to emphasize its town-planning significance with the help of the plastic of the main facade”.
The shape of the wind-filled sail is inspired by the shape of the site: the avenues intersect at right angles, but are also connected by arcuate bridges that allow drivers to take a shortcut. The façade of the new complex curves along one of these road bridges. "The spinnaker is the largest sail in terms of area," explains the architect. "It is set when moving full courses for higher speed, and, incredibly expressive, attracts attention." It should be noted that its architectural embodiment is characterized by the same, giving the whole building dynamics and expressiveness. Corresponds to the marine theme and its facing - dark blue glass and clear horizontal divisions of the floors, in which you just want to see a hint of a vest.
Once a sail appeared, it was not without a conditional "mast" - a niche was made in the semicircular surface to the full height of the building, in which a glass cylinder was placed. This element accentuates the entrance area and figuratively develops the theme of the lobby's circular revolving doors. It does not carry any functional load - the tower cut into the body of the building houses the same offices as in all its other areas. The internal layout of the complex is generally very simple and rational - all utilities, stairs and elevators are grouped into one core, so that the tenants have at their disposal a floor completely free of any risers. The side and courtyard facades of the complex, facing the residential buildings, are also designed in an extremely laconic way. The architect admits that the main intrigue was played out on the main facade - a plane facing two avenues at once and visible from afar, he wanted to give a deliberately sculptural, memorable form. At night, the cylinder is also effectively illuminated, which makes the new complex a memorable landmark of one of the busiest intersections in Moscow.
