Initially, for a complex of several buildings with offices and apartments, two neighboring plots were allocated, stretched perpendicular to the Ozerkovskaya embankment. Having appreciated the scale of the upcoming development and its location in the very center of the capital, the architects set themselves the task of not limiting themselves to designing a conventional multifunctional complex, but developing a new typological unit - the "waterfront complex" - which Moscow lacks so much. According to the SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov bureau, the new facility was supposed to simultaneously have a representative facade, well readable from the water, and create a cozy urban fabric on the site of the former industrial zone with streets, walkways, dead ends. Proceeding from this, the town-planning concept was created: the central axis of the composition was a pedestrian street overlooking the embankment and picturesquely curved in plan. And although later the north-western section was excluded from the program, the architects managed to keep this compositional solution.
As a result, the construction of the complex was carried out on an area of 1.44 hectares, containing four buildings, separated by several intra-quarter streets. The central pedestrian zone formed the general plan - bending in an elastic arc, it connected the embankment and the square formed by the intersection of two internal thoroughfares. The width of this street varies smoothly: as it approaches the embankment, it widens, hospitably inviting you to enter the complex, then narrows and intersects with a short street, “shooting” from the largest office building and accented by its portals, and only then leads to the mentioned square. However, the spectacular curve of the intra-quarter street is also determined by the configuration of the largest building. In order to "take away" the office facade from the neighboring residential building, it was bent in an arc, increasing the gap between the buildings by 15 meters. The curvilinear shape and the increased distance between the houses have provided the latter with greater privacy and visual independence.
The first floors, facing the new street, are given over to shops, cafes, restaurants and are open to citizens. The planning project specifically provides for the possibility of creating small premises here - up to 100 sq.m. - which should become a guarantee of saturation of the new quarter with a variety of infrastructure. It is planned to make the roofs as accessible as possible here: the authors of the project moved all the technical equipment of the buildings to the upper level, thereby freeing up the roof space as much as possible. It is interesting that these terraces themselves arose as a response to the urban planning situation: the height of buildings increases gradually - from 5 to 11 floors, providing an organic connection with the surrounding buildings and meeting the requirements of landscape-visual analysis.
Three buildings of "Aquamarine" are occupied by offices, and the fourth, the smallest in area, is used for apartments. Buildings of different sizes and shapes, architecturally, are nevertheless solved in the same way - a snow-white grid is superimposed over the glass fronts of the facades, the horizontals of which are interfloor ceilings, and the verticals are double semi-columns, which could remind the historian of the "proletarian classics" of Ivan Fomin - however, the authors and do not hide that they were inspired by his architecture. But if in the 1930s Fomin's concrete “columns”, devoid of capitals, stretched to the height of many floors, now they have become part of the metal shell of buildings, not concrete, but rather. The rounded corners are especially impressive, where the shiny curved glass, framed by the verticals of the double rods, is crowned with sharp triangles of cornice slabs. Active verticals enrich the plasticity, set the rhythm and enhance the expressiveness of the boulevard's perspective.
Only the largest, the fourth complex has a slightly different facade plastic: with half-columns, a large building would look very massive, so a different type of vertical was found for it - thin ribs protruding from the plane of the facade, which remind of the search for post-war modernism. This decision is also constructively justified: it is in this building that the outer walls are hinged, while in all the others they are made of monolith. The main entrance is accentuated by an imposing glazed portal through which you can see the lobby with the atrium and the courdoner facing the residential building, and glass transoms are provided above the windows of the first floor, in which signs and advertisements can be placed.
The architects very carefully approached the choice of material for facade decoration: abandoning imitation of stone in a composite, they were looking for a metal that would look exactly like metal. The white color is intended to emphasize brilliance and lightness, as well as to make the new complex contrast with the surrounding buildings, standing out against the background of brick and plaster facades dominating on the embankment. It was equally important to find the optimal concentration of metallic luster so that, according to Sergei Tchoban, "the building does not resemble a refrigerator." Goldstar aluminum composite panels are ideal - they are lightweight, shine beautifully and give a subtle reflex. Glass was also meticulously chosen. We settled on transparent glass with a grayish tint. The clear rhythm of vertical articulations is well read against its mirror background.
The authors themselves jokingly call their creation a "life-size model", and this definition explains both the apparent lightness of the complex and its deliberate isolation from the context. The snow-white and modern "Aquamarine" not only became a self-sufficient urban unit, but was also able to organize the chaotic buildings around it.
![EQUITONE [Natura] N164 White: Delicate White](https://i.architectureprof.com/images/004/image-9928-j.webp "EQUITONE [Natura] N164 White: Delicate White")