The large-scale project of the master-developer "Forum Group" provides for the construction by 2029 on the very border of Yekaterinburg, near the EKAD under construction, a full-fledged microdistrict for 85,000 residents. In general, construction is planned with a total area of 2.5 million m2, of which 300,000 m2 set aside for infrastructure: schools, kindergartens, a sports center, shops, a shopping complex. There is also a large park. The project is already being implemented with the participation of four more development companies, each of which develops its own site within the framework of a very detailed assignment drawn up by a master developer. At its core, the project continues the practice of remote sleeping areas with a predominance of residential buildings with the necessary social infrastructure, which is familiar to us, but practically rejected by modern urbanism. But it turned out that in this typology it is possible to create and develop comfortable spaces for living.
For the development company "Brusnika", participating in this large project, the Architectural Bureau "OSA" developed four residential blocks, each 25,000 m2 housing. Apartments according to the "Brusniki" standard are offered in two typologies at once: classic one-room, two-room and three-room apartments, and European-style apartments with one, two or three bedrooms. Apartment sizes vary from 30 to 85 m2.
The first block realized under this project goes directly to the 2nd Novosibirskaya street, which connects "Solnechny" - this is the name of the microdistrict - with the rest of the city. Actually, the entire territory of the future microdistrict is divided into squares of about 100 by 100 meters.
Initially, it was planned to completely build up each square along the perimeter with multi-section houses almost equal in height, since this solution seemed the only possible way to achieve the safety of the courtyard space. In the process of working out the general concept, the architects managed to convince the master developer of the opposite, and to offer an alternative approach to the formation of a comfortable space. This approach consists in dividing a monotonous multi-section wall into separate volumes with a pronounced silhouette. The result is a closed, but permeable courtyard, in which you can see not only the opposite facade, but also areas of the sky and streets that are open to the ground. While maintaining the technical and economic indicators, the silhouettes of houses became bolder, more diverse, and acquired character.
“Sharp changes in altitude give us the opportunity to simultaneously respond to the requests of very different groups of consumers, - explains the head of the team of authors Rostislav Zeiser, - someone would prefer to climb to the 15th floor, but for someone it is important to feel like a tenant of a commensurate, 8-storey building and we we can quite combine this within the framework of one residential block. The houses are connected by two very low blocks, and on two opposite sides there are two gates to the courtyard for pedestrians and service access. The principle of a safe yard without cars is thus preserved, but the feeling of a closed well does not arise.
According to the original plan of the master developer, all facades were supposed to be brick, but the architects proposed to build a solution in contrast. Although the outer walls facing the streets, the city walls remained brick, in the courtyards they are lighter and lighter - plaster-white interspersed with gray, enlivened by the rhythmic variety of windows. The courtyard facades are cozy and emphatically internal, like the lining of a coat. On the other hand, they are subordinated to the principle of background architecture - the emphasis is shifted to bright landscaping, active gardening of the courtyard, while buildings serve as a background. Outside - on the contrary, the clinker brick finish is designed to create a feeling of confidence and "fortress" security, figuratively emphasized by high-rise accents at the corners. Thus, the contrast between the external and the internal is shown here very clearly.
But the massiveness from the side of the main street is also facilitated by a strip of continuous retail glazing, deepened relative to the main contour of the facade. In the original decision of the master developer, a protruding stylobate was assumed. The solution of the first floor, proposed by the architects, made it possible to win additional space for a landscaped sidewalk along the façade, which could accommodate café terraces.
The class of housing in the project is a standard, so it required, first of all, the selection of economically sound decisions. Many of the initial proposals, in particular “warm” wood panels in the lower floors or playing with the textures of clinker bricks, fell victim to this selection. However, getting rid of the decoration, the authors still managed to preserve the main architectural and planning ideas: the dynamic silhouette of the residential block; through, glazed lobbies; "Reliable" clinker facade; high-quality landscaping of the yard and adjacent streets.
However, the main achievement in the work on the residential blocks of the Solnechny microdistrict, the OSA architects, consider the change in the attitude of developers to the solution of areas of this class that occurred in the process of work. “We managed to convey to the partners and to the master developer that the block does not have to have a continuous facade,” says Rostislav Zeiser. Now it is even difficult to imagine how oppressive and dull this monotonous brick wall would look. Thanks to the applied solutions, we have obtained a commercially-scaled and humane space with a unique character."
