The site for residential complex LVIII is located in the central part of Yekaterinburg, on one of the main avenues of the city. The name could be understood as the Latin number 58, but in fact it is a kind of cipher for a prestigious address: L - Lenin, VIII - house 8. In fact, the buildings are lined up along Sheinkman and Popov streets and the inner quarter, parallel to Sacco and Vanzetti streets, and a curious architectural symbiosis separates them from the bustling avenue. These are two former buildings of the refinery, connected by an atrium: a more modern administrative building was reconstructed for a premium residential complex, the second - an architectural monument, was adapted for an art gallery.
Also within the quarter are typical houses of the 1960s and the outbuilding of the Eliseevs' estate of the late 19th century. Such multi-temporal buildings with a relatively low number of storeys are characteristic of the entire district, not that the main high-rise dominants of the city grow too far.
The territory allotted for the residential complex is quite extensive and is almost rectangular in plan: only one of the sides "branches" outward by branches of a complex configuration. The architects are building the buildings into two corner sections, thus solving several problems: the city has a new scale of the quarter, future residents have a courtyard of an impressive size, the corner of Sheinkman and Popov streets is formed, and the rugged part merges with neighboring territories and turns into a full-fledged public space in front of picture gallery: with a square, a promenade and a playground.
Since there are no height restrictions in this part of the city, we managed to offer the customer three composition options: with buildings of the same height, with two towers accentuating the new square, and with three towers. The developer chose the latter: the most silhouette, with the maximum height difference. Which, among other things, allows you to diversify the number of storeys and lifestyle, thereby making the complex attractive to different buyers: someone likes to live in five-storey buildings, someone likes to be on a par with birds.
Further, responding to the context, the architects divided the entire complex into two parts: a five-storey "base" and superstructures with a total height of up to 33 floors, which should be included in the system of urban dominants. The chosen tectonics led to the decision to treat the base as an imposing, powerful base-pedestal: hence the stone cladding, wide piers and large articulations. The towers should become airy and light - which became the main highlight of the complex.
In an effort to give the towers grace, the architects visually divided the volumes of each of them into two vertical parts, creating the feeling of two "stitched" together, but slender volumes - due to materials, rhythm, and even height. In each such pair, one tower rises from the ground and looks akin to the volume of the base, while the second is emphatically installed on a five-story base with a gap indicated by the deepened belt of the glass floor-lintel.
In the same way, laconic glass volumes of lesser height are installed on the five-storey plinth through the “sleeve” - ten-storey in total. It turns out a complex image of a city, consisting of different types of rear, assembled by the method of a volumetric puzzle into a dense whole. The effect is somewhat Singaporean, the city grows upward, accentuating the layering, playing with heights and directions, vertical in the towers and horizontal in the glass volumes-settings. It is enhanced by the greenery of the "hanging gardens" on the terraces in front of the deepened intermediate tiers. Everything is clear, harmonious, although not "one-two", but "not one-two-three", at least. But nothing more: variegation is not observed, rather - a kind of strictly systematized, strictly calculated waltzing of forms. There is such a dance, the square waltz, which is quite simple, but all further training in classical dances is based on it. So, here it seems to be played out for three dominant towers.
It should be said that in the original version, the architects proposed revealing the entire complex with red brick, thus throwing a contextual "bridge" to the neighboring building of the refinery, and in general to the industrial history of the city. However, for the customer, brick turned out to be not the material that creates a sense of splendor, gloss or is associated with "business-class" housing. I had to replace it with a light stone, porcelain stoneware and glass. This combination gave quite an optimistic result - according to Alexander Popov, the replacement of the material was not a forced measure, but quite natural.
Since the future residential complex belongs to the category of "business", Archimatika took care of the formation of an appropriate environment. In all the options being worked out, the architects laid and accentuated the square along Sheinkman Street. Together with the gallery, it could become a point of attraction for citizens and guests of the city, which would ensure the flow of visitors to retail outlets, for which the first floors are allocated. A playground in an open space is also a strategic move, since mothers looking after children are definitely a good audience, "eyes fixed on the street" according to Jane Jacobs. The courtyard is free of cars; an underground parking is planned for them.
Perhaps, looking at the experience of Yekaterinburg with its unique skyline, other Russian cities will be able to fall in love with skyscrapers. The concept of Archimatics shows that the high-rise dominant can be the best way out of the problem of monotonous mass development. In the case of LVIII, the towers not only take on the main loads on TEPs, insolation and provide panoramic views, but also solve urban planning problems: one accentuates the intersection of streets, the other accentuates the square, the third balances the composition, all together they create an expressive silhouette. That would still not work if the residents were not offered sufficient urban comfort. There is also it - in the form of a developed infrastructure of the central part of the city and a system of private and public spaces created by architects.
By the way: the jury of the festival "House on Brestskaya invites …" recently
awarded the project the first prize in the category "Architecture of residential buildings" (see the news on the bureau's Telegram channel).
