The competition was announced by the Belgorod administration in May and was dedicated to the design of a residential complex in the very center of the city, between the regional government building and the place where the Trinity Cathedral was until the 1920s, on the territory of the third Belgorod fortress, from which, however, only a memory and one "Restored" wooden monument tower. The rest of the surrounding development consists of post-war residential buildings: cozy two-storey buildings along Troitsky Boulevard and larger, 4-storey ones along Glory Avenue. The new quarter is planned to be located in the depths of the territory, between the building of the Belogorodskaya metropolis and the pedestrian street of the 50th anniversary of the region.
The participants of the competition were expected to have such a planning and architectural solution for the quarter, which would meet all modern requirements for a comfortable urban environment. It was necessary to provide for high-quality courtyard and public spaces, think over pedestrian connections, and create the necessary infrastructure.
The competition took place in two stages: qualifying selection and the actual development of projects by the finalist teams. The top three include Citizenstudio, Semrén & Månsson and the Architectural Workshop of Maxim Atayants. According to the terms of the competition, the project of the winner was planned to be implemented, but two participants were recognized as winners at once - Citizenstudio and Semrén & Månsson. What will happen next is not reported. In the meantime, we are presenting the projects of all the finalists.
Citizenstudio
The essence of the Citizenstudio concept is clear from its name - “Four Courtyards”. Among the key theses of the project: courtyards of a comfortable urban scale, a gradual increase in the height of buildings (from 2 to 20 floors), intra-block pedestrian connections, a single public space, the possibility of a phased implementation.
The architects tried to fit their four courtyards as delicately as possible into the existing context of the central part of the city. Low-rise buildings on the first line do not argue with the scale of historical buildings, and the hip roofs of buildings overlooking Svyato-Troitsky Boulevard emphasize the organic nature of modern intervention. The height of the houses rises towards the center of the block, and the tallest of them are the least noticeable. The facing of the houses facing the boulevard with light stone is also intended to combine the new buildings with the existing ones. The facades of the second line buildings are brick.
Four lots / courtyards are permeated with pedestrian links, at the intersection of which a small intra-quarter area is formed. Residents of the quarter, being right in the heart of the city, will be able to feel secluded thanks to the closed courtyards and quiet, protected from the hustle and bustle of public space.
-
Image 
zooming 1/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 2/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 3/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Parking plan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 4/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Plan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 5/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Typical floor plan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 6/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Scan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 7/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Scan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 8/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Scan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 9/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Scan © Citizenstudio
-
zooming 10/10 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Axonometry © Citizenstudio
Semrén & Månsson
This project is dedicated to finding the optimal balance between privacy and publicity. The architects tried to simultaneously provide the residents of the quarter with personal space, and all the townspeople with new opportunities for walks, relaxation and communication.
The concept assumes: respect for the architectural heritage, consolidation of the network of city pedestrian streets and boulevards, the formation of closed safe residential yards without cars, the use of relief features to create public spaces.
The height of buildings varies from the perimeter to the center of the site from 8 to 20 floors. Roofs are actively exploited. The colors and textures of the facade materials were selected taking into account the local context: limestone, chalk and sand are mined in the region.
All parking lots are "hidden" under the ground - so the territory of the quarter is completely freed from the movement of personal vehicles. Due to the differences in the relief, the architects managed to create vertical zoning - public and private zones are located at different levels.
-
Image 
zooming 1/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 2/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 3/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 4/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 5/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. General plan 3d © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 6/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Shaping spaces © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 7/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Transport scheme © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 8/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod. Number of storeys, division into sections © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 9/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 10/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
-
zooming 11/11 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Semrén & Månsson
Maxim Atayants
The mission of the third project, which the jury noted as a finalist of the competition, is to “consolidate the historical memory of the heritage” of Belgorod, the city of the Zasechnaya line. The site occupies about a quarter of the territory of the bastion fortifications of the third fortress of Belgorod, and largely coincides with the rectangle of the metropolitan's court, later the Trinity Monastery, which is clearly visible from the overlapping plans (see the note of the local historian and the article of the archaeologist).
And although practically nothing remained of the Belgorod fortress, and from the Trinity Cathedral (1690-1707) only the contours of the petal plan in the square to the south-west of the site under consideration, Maxim Atayants, in memory of the historical fortifications, turned his version of the residential complex into a kind of fortress with two contours: the inner house, high, 12-storey, is a closed rectangular contour with arches, interpreted as "detinets", the outer one is a large U-shaped frame of 7-storey height, "fortress".
Together, the buildings acquire the silhouette of a mountain, which is enhanced by the relief and many staircases that open through high arches. Maxim Atayants proposed to turn the area between the outer and inner houses into an “inner pedestrian recreation zone“light garden”, closed for the passage of cars, but with a semi-underground three-level parking under it. In the "garden" it was proposed to plant fruit trees and place private front gardens of the residents of the first floors. The “garden” was planned to be open to the townspeople, with a promenade gallery and a public area in the northern part.
The proposed architecture is reminiscent of buildings from the 1930s, in tune with the surrounding post-war development. The version of the calm classics with horizontal stripes of rustication, balconies and bay windows, pediments, hip roofs and a series of staircases in arched openings can recall both the house of the Military Engineering Academy of the architect Ilya Golosov on Pokrovsky Boulevard, and the house of Mosproekt-3 on the Garden Ring near Yauza. The undoubtedly attractive part of the project, in addition to historical allusions, is made by the "proprietary" graphics of Maxim Atayants, although, by the author's own admission, he himself was not very pleased with the result.
-
zooming 1/4 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Maxim Atayants
-
zooming 2/4 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Maxim Atayants
-
zooming 3/4 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Maxim Atayants
-
zooming 4/4 The concept of residential development in the central quarter of Belgorod © Maxim Atayants
