This project started in the pre-crisis year of 2004, when LSR Group decided to build a residential complex, one of the main features of which was to be a high-quality architectural environment. The advantages of living outside the metropolis here had to be combined with the comfort and atmosphere of a cozy European city. The developer relied on the leading Russian architects - Sergei Tchoban and Alexander Skokan - and they, in turn, having developed the master plan of the residential complex, suggested expanding the team of authors and invite other authors to design individual objects. They were Anton Mosin, then still a member of Meganom, and the German bureau AssmannSolomon. Note that Sergei Tchoban deliberately chose to work with the "team": the architect is convinced that this is the best way to create a high-quality and diverse environment.
The site allocated for the construction of "Grunwald" is located on the banks of the Setun River and has a rather strong relief difference - about 5 meters. The residential complex is adjacent to a wide field that separates it from Skolkovo. In order to visually isolate the territory and give it a cozy intimacy, the architects surrounded the Grunwald with an earthen rampart, in which they hid the parking lot. The shaft forms two levels of public space: the main one is a boulevard surrounded by buildings and protected by a green hill; and secondary - a system of terraces on this hill, i.e. rooftop parking with scenic views of the surrounding area.
With a seemingly simple solution (a street with houses on both sides), the master plan is fraught with many subtle moves, which create a balanced and visually rich environment in the complex, harmoniously connected with the existing magnificent natural environment. In total, 13 houses are located on the territory of slightly more than 4 hectares, forming a picturesque composition, stretching along the central green boulevard - a kind of public center and recreation area for the residents of the complex. The perspective of the boulevard is closed by a compact cylindrical building of a fitness center, the facades of which are made of multi-colored glass.
In order to get an aesthetically verified architectural landscape when looking at the village from one point or another of the promenade, the shapes of the houses were set different. Round volumes mark the corners, the sector house creates a dynamic gateway to the complex. The height of the buildings was also precisely found - they slightly rise above the tops of the surrounding pines, not dominating nature, but only indicating their presence. Each of the invited architectural bureaus received an assignment to design 2-3 objects, which provided an interesting visual variety for a rather dense and at the same time compact development.
The house designed by "Ostozhenka" was named "Sector" and in the plan is a quarter of a circle. This in itself a strong form did not require any volumetric elements, therefore the face of the facades here is defined by the slightly knocked-down pattern of window openings so characteristic of Ostozhenka and the combination of finishing materials - natural stone and imitation of wood cladding. Interestingly, at first the architects designed protruding beveled bay windows, but later abandoned them, considering them excessive, and only in the interior of the lobby these ledges were already preserved as lamps.
In general, it should be noted that such laconicism and deliberate "non-aggressiveness" of facade solutions have become a distinctive feature of this project. Only the "Kubuses" - the houses of the German bureau AssmannSolomon - were initially the largest of all, received volumetric designed facades with noticeable offsets, to which the other authors treated with emphasized respect, doing everything to ensure that, within the framework of a fairly dense building of a residential complex, the volumes would not " jostled with their elbows."
Perhaps the most unusual facades were received by the "Veil" houses, designed by Anton Mosin. They seem to be wrapped in a metallic openwork shell of green color, the perforation of which is folded into floral ornaments. This shell acts as a second facade and not only provides visual and acoustic protection, but also creates an air buffer against overheating in hot weather, thereby significantly reducing air conditioning costs. In addition, due to the removal of the panels, each window opening turns into a shallow balcony, and on the stained glass windows of the guest area, these panels are made sliding. The building looks even more unusual thanks to the glass balconies that are fixed on top of the perforated panels.
The round house, designed by SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov and nps tchoban voss, was assigned the role of an outpost of the village in the general plan, and the architects interpreted it as a tower, emphasizing this metaphor with the help of rhythmic "belts" of windows. The facades of this house, poetically called "Waltz", are finished with rusticated limestone, which the architects let between the window openings with wide ribbons intertwined crosswise. The internal layout of the tower is orthogonal, and only the corners that fit the outer walls remain indirect. This is done so that future residents do not have problems with the arrangement of furniture. The interior of the elevator well hall also develops an association with a tower: the light from the skylights penetrates it from the roof to the first floor, and suspended bridges lead to the elevator.
There is no doubt that the ensemble of the Grunwald residential area has taken place. Created by an international team of architects, it has become a collection of works of authorship, each of which has brightness and originality, but does not try to "out-shout" its neighbors, but is an integral part of a cozy mini-city. There are very few examples of such teamwork in Russian, and even in world architecture: from Moscow examples of recent years, one can recall
“Garden Quarters” and “In the Forest”, but it was Grunwald that became the pioneer in this sense. Even in the most difficult conditions of the crisis, the architects managed to "play", and the developer exactly realized all their ideas. Differences in the author's handwriting and understanding of the genre of a small apartment building here only help to put together a unique puzzle called "comfortable area", proving that frozen music really sounds only when all members of the orchestra perform their part with high quality.
