Renovation of former industrial areas is acutely relevant for St. Petersburg. On the account of the creative union of the architectural studio "Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners" and the SPEECH bureau there are several such projects: on the Petrograd side, on the site of the former "Electric" plant, a residential complex "Europe City" was erected; in 2016, the tandem won the competition for the development of the concept for the development of the Gray Belt (pilot area "French Bucket"). Evgeny Gerasimov's portfolio includes two more large projects: the construction of the Tsarskaya Stolitsa residential complex on the site of the St. Petersburg - Tovarny - Moskovsky freight yard in the immediate vicinity of Nevsky Prospect was completed, and at the end of last year the workshop presented the concept of transforming the territory of the Krasny triangle". The sketch for the development of the shores of the Okhtinsky Razliv has a number of unique features.
Green industrial zone
The Rzhevka area, where they plan to build blocks, is now a "deep" industrial zone. Petersburg art critic Alexander Stepanov describes this part of the city as an industrial-transport-warehouse belt, which is adjoined by cemeteries and outskirts, gradually turning into the landscape. However, this territory will soon change. Manufactures are moving outside the city into more modern and adaptable buildings, making room for new urban scenarios.
The Museum of Street Art, which was born out of the redevelopment of the Laminated Plastics Factory, opened not too far away. Upstream, on the territory of the former Ruchyi enterprise, the millionth residential complex Tsvetnoy Gorod is under construction. The quarters of Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners and SPEECH offer a completely different typology for this territory and a possible model for further development.
The area with which the bureau worked is the sites of the Khimvolokno and Plastpolymer plants, separated by the Okhta spill, the successors of the gunpowder plant founded here by the decree of Peter I. young republic of the chemical industry. Here they produced film, nitrocelluloid varnish for cars, and so on. Several years ago, the land was “consolidated” and acquired by the developer MC “Teorema”. To date, most of the production facilities are closed or removed from the territory.
We had to wait for some time until the purpose of the site was changed from industrial to mid-rise residential development in the general plan. While they were waiting, they managed to build
business center H2O - designed by the German bureau Tchoban Voss Architekten, which is headed by Sergey Tchoban, co-author of the project in question. This spectacular building, composed of four towers, with stylized images of the elements (fire, water, earth and air) printed on glass, now stands among warehouses and wastelands as a harbinger of future changes.
The territory left after the factories is unique. Firstly, the spirit of history is alive here - what can be safely called the genius of the place: historical driveways, red-brick buildings of different periods, a dam with stone millstones that ground gunpowder have been preserved. Secondly, the unique landscape remained untouched, partly man-made: a river with picturesque rapids, an abundance of greenery throughout the territory, a natural coastline of the flood with its own ecosystem. The architects set themselves the goal of emphasizing, preserving and using these features to the maximum, which formed the basis of the concept they developed.
Lines of history
It was decided to develop two territories on different banks of the Okhta as a single organism. The starting point for the design was the preserved driveways, which the architects united and expanded in some places. The path along the embankment on the territory of "Plastopolymer" and the unnamed street, which continues the Revolution Highway, became compositional axes that subdued the entire development of the right bank. On the left bank, the axis starts from the city square, stretches across the pedestrian bridge and ends with the embankment.
According to the head of the group of architects who worked on the concept, Anna Shtepa, "the logic in the layout of the site was originally laid down with iron, it was only necessary to catch and strengthen it in order to organize residential development."
It was impossible to ignore the special atmosphere of this place, which is created by the red-brick factory buildings. In addition to the water area of the spill, 12 buildings belonging to the Okhta powder factory complex were recognized as cultural heritage sites. The architects decided to preserve other pre-revolutionary buildings, which give the place individuality and determine the nature of future development - only about a dozen. They are planned to be adapted for schools, kindergartens, shops and restaurants.
Scattered throughout the territory, historical buildings have become points of attraction, nuclei, around which squares and public spaces have formed, from which pedestrian connections have been built.
New quarters
Now the site is bounded by busy highways - Kapsyulnoe Highway, Krasin Street and Kommuny Street, into which the Revolution Highway joins. According to the general plan, along the right bank of the spill, the Kapsyulnoe Highway will be continued until it joins Khimikov Street.
New thoroughfares and streets of local importance draw a regular grid of neighborhoods (or urban blocks, as they are now called in Moscow), traditional for historical St. Petersburg, which is formed according to two principles: permeability of the environment for pedestrians and car-free yards. The difference from the canon is that each quarter is made up of sections of different heights of 12, 10 and 8 floors, the facades of which can be decorated in different ways. Thus, the microdistrict acquires a silhouette and expressiveness, and most apartments - sunlight and beautiful views.
To the east of the pedestrian bridge, in the lower section, there are 14-storey point buildings. Their location is thought out in such a way that the projected area will receive a kind of "necklace" of high-rise dominants - the landmark landmarks of each of the quarters, for the expressive silhouettes and facades of which it will subsequently be possible to hold separate architectural competitions. The houses of the "first line", in which large-sized view apartments are planned, are arranged in the project in such a way as not to obstruct the view of the river for the "second line"; they also will not prevent the residents of the neighborhoods from freely passing to the river.
The first floors of all buildings are given over to all kinds of public functions that ensure the life of the quarter. You can park along the extension of the Kapsyulnoye Highway or Krasin Street, which are likely to become retail ones, or in underground and surface parking lots. The project does not provide for travel and parking of cars inside the quarters of urban yards - of course, except for special equipment.
Good neighborliness
The most important attention in the project is paid to socio-cultural scenarios of the future region's life. The large number and typological diversity of public spaces, a network of thoughtful walking and cycling routes, as well as the already mentioned public ground floors of residential buildings are intended to initiate the formation of a single community.
The largest recreational area is the flooded peninsula, where historical powder depots have been preserved. Architects see here a "local version of New Holland" - a park with festivals, holidays and Sunday markets. You can get to the peninsula via a pedestrian bridge, which performs several functions at once: it, like an artery, symbolically unites the quarters into a single "organism", at the same time providing the shortest path between them and being part of a large walking route.
The long embankment of the lower section, immersed in greenery, remains in its original form: the bank will only be strengthened and supplemented with wooden decking. A wide boulevard with a pedestrian promenade and a bicycle path has been formed along the second longitudinal axis of the site - the continuation of the Revolution Highway.
Green spaces are also formed around preserved historic buildings and within each closed block section. Thus, from the communicating islets, a large area for walking, free of cars, is formed.
What's next
Developed by Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners and SPEECH, the concept for the development of the former industrial zone was approved by the city planning council of St. Petersburg last year. Of course, this does not mean that it will be implemented a) completely, b) exactly in the form that the architects invented it. And nevertheless, the official recognition of the city is very important for the authors of the project: St. Petersburg, which has not so many truly large territories for large-scale residential construction, has a chance to get an original comfortable area in which a rich industrial history organically coexists with a picturesque natural landscape - and the architects sincerely hope that this chance will be used.
