Sergey Trukhanov: "The Main Thing Is To Find A Solution, How To Realize What Initially Seems Impossible"

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

With the head of the T + T Architects workshop, we talked about both the burning issues of recent months and what is important for the profession in general.

You moved to the office on "Red October" relatively recently - but why exactly here? It is clear that, according to tradition, they were looking for a “promku”, but in Moscow its choice is rather big …

Sergey Trukhanov:

We were looking for a suitable place both in terms of location and transport accessibility. At the same time, of course, it should have been interesting in itself. We considered the premises at the "Rassvet" (Business Quarter - editor's note) - but they all required serious capital investments in repairs and engineering. We would need to sit there for at least 10-12 years for this to become a justified investment. As a result, we settled on this premises on Krasny Oktyabr, where Strelka's office was located in the old days. But another moment became decisive for the choice: the elevator grandmother said that this was the premises of the former women's shower rooms. So we realized that the place is cool - we must take it.

Did you have to redo a lot?

Basically, they got rid of the excess - old drywall, which was sheathed with brick walls and other partitions. But cast-iron columns are a separate conversation. The thing is that these are old steam heating systems: one of the first such systems in the country was installed at Red October. Inside the hollow cast-iron column, a rod-pipe goes through and through, which heated up and gave off heat.

The windows here are also "native": at first we did not even understand this and, looking at the neighbors and their plastic, we wanted to replace the terribly blown wooden bindings with aluminum stained-glass structures. But they came to us with a prescription: the windows cannot be changed, the entire building is considered a monument. Then they began to clean up, got to the bottom of the original fasteners and frames, invited restorers for restoration.

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  1/4 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  2/4 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  3/4 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  4/4 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

How does zoning work? There are clearly defined meeting rooms, but the management office is not visible …

To the left of the entrance we have the architectural department, to the right - the interior department. In the middle there is the main communication zone - a table-bar counter. This is a place for formal meetings, presentations on the big screen, and just for communication and parties. I didn't want to make a personal office, so I chose the most remote and secluded place, but in an open area, so as not to lose communication with colleagues. Everything is extremely democratic and I can quickly “shout out” to someone, and the rest can easily come up and ask a question.

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  1/6 Workshop T + T Architects. Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  2/6 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  3/6 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  4/6 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  5/6 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  6/6 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

Duty question: how did you survive the quarantine? As it turned out, even within the same area of architectural design, the situation was different for everyone: someone is satisfied with the remote format and is going to move to a smaller office, while someone, on the contrary, complains about the low efficiency of employees …

It so happened that operationally, managerially and technically, we were as prepared as possible for such a situation. We have been building our business for a long time as a standardized and sometimes autonomous process, working without unnecessary manual control. A large infrastructure program written specifically for us, living and developing together with the bureau since 2014, covers a whole range of tasks - from management accounting and financial monitoring to setting tasks for projects and tracking their implementation. then it happens automatically. All communication passes through this program, and we both managed everything with the help of web services and continued to do so.

But a terrible scarcity arose in lively discussions and exchanges of opinions. When you work with a large number of concepts, each of which requires its own approach, create that very unique and detailed product, the contact of the whole team is very important, everyone has a common understanding of what result should be at the finish line. making sure you were understood and heard - all of this slowed down the process and made quality control more difficult. To achieve efficiency similar to those of “peacetime”, an employee had to sit at the monitor from 8 am to 10 pm. It is much easier when you can quickly get together as a team, think and discuss something. We realized that we really lacked this, so it took less than a week to mobilize after quarantine, and since then everyone has been sitting in the office and working. Most of us turned out to be very "socialized". At the same time, teams and employees who performed long-term, but technical tasks, perfectly adapted to the "remote" and left the latest.

You have changed something in the office due to tcurrent epidemiological situation?

Nothing at all, except for the duty rules for daily temperature measurement and regular testing. Despite the fact that I am not a COVID dissident and regularly walked in a mask and gloves, and also spent almost 3 months at home, I believe that the systemic habits developed over the years, as well as basic hygiene, will defeat this panic. We will return, adjusted for "wind", to what it was at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, coworking spaces can strengthen their positions in the market, since in essence it is a service and is quite flexible. It will be easier for them to respond to the tightening of cleaning protocols and social distancing. At the moment, the construction of one of the coworking spaces of the BusinessClub network in the OKO II business center according to our project is nearing completion.

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  1/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  2/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  3/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  4/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  5/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  6/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  7/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

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  8/8 Workshop of T + T Architects at Krasny Oktyabr Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T + T Architects

This is a large space for projects of this format with an area of more than 6 thousand square meters. m. There are both individual workplaces and premises for project teams. The fact is that in coworking spaces, especially large ones, it is very important to find a “golden mean” between a working attitude and a relaxed business atmosphere. This balance is maintained through the correct combination of different zones and technical equipment. Here they installed soft furniture with sound-absorbing properties, and the decoration was complemented by glass-block panels. The interior is not overloaded with color accents and overly bright decorative elements. All this allowed us to create a flexible product that can be easily reconfigured depending on the changing environment and different requirements.

In general, flex office concepts, which realize the idea of the most flexible business space, are now rapidly gaining momentum. An office where a resident can choose for himself not only the work area, but also the format, the filling of the work area both for himself and for his group, will be popular. Opportunities for collaboration, areas of individual or concentrated work, various formats of meeting spaces and common bookable offices are important. Particular attention is paid to service areas, which remove both household and work issues. These are lockers, parking for bicycles and scooters, showers and sports zones, lecture halls and classrooms that can be transformed into meeting or large presentation areas.

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  1/5 Office of the Business Club in BC OKO II © T + T Architects

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  2/5 Office of the Business Club in BC OKO II © T + T Architects

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  3/5 Office of the Business Club in BC OKO II © T + T Architects

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  4/5 Office of the Business Club in BC OKO II © T + T Architects

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  5/5 Office of the Business Club in BC OKO II © T + T Architects

And if we return to the topic of “post-like” adaptation of ordinary offices, then our other client, Gazpromneft, contacted us with a thematic request. For one of the projects, they asked to make a planning scenario for adapting how the office should function in the event of an epidemic. We have developed additional planning scenarios describing which zones in such a situation from public and infrastructural become jobs. First, the distance between working groups should grow dramatically. This is how options for the layout of workplaces and permissible meeting regulations appeared (meeting rooms - for a maximum of three people, work teams for no more than four, etc.). Secondly, some areas of potential congestion have to be refurbished, for example, the dining room, to compensate for this by increasing the number of scattered coffee points. The same gyms are being transformed into large offices, in which partitions are provided, which divide the room into several parts. But the offices of directors who are forced to move become negotiation rooms.

The mode of operation of engineering systems is calculated separately. Plus, we worked out the operational regulations. So, if we see that a part of the department cannot sit in the same amount as in "pre-emergency" times, then we transfer them to the shift mode "2 through 2", at the same time freeing up additional seats. And we must pay tribute to Gazpromfneti, they have already brought all these recommendations to the attention of all their divisions.

How did you find such a large customer?

We met them at a competition for New Holland, where Gazpromneft is building an Innovation Center in the newly renovated building House 12. We did not win the competition, but the same department - the Directorate of Digital Transformation - invited us to create a back office for ourselves in the Nevskaya Ratusha business center in St. Petersburg.

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  1/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

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  2/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

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  3/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

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  4/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

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  5/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

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  6/6 Interiors of the Office of the Directorate of Digital Transformation "Photo © Ilya Ivanov / Courtesy of T T Architects

The task was interesting, on the one hand, because this is an office for a specific and very progressive tenant who digitizes everything that is possible. For example, before traveling to drill wells, employees undergo training in VR rooms, where they work with digital twins of complex equipment. On the other hand, since the center in New Holland will open sooner or later, another division will come here, which means that the office must be ready to rebuild. Therefore, in addition to open spaces designed for constant communication, we have a number of closed and clearly localized work areas that can be transformed into laboratories, offices, meeting rooms or other functions. In terms of style, at first we wanted to do something in the spirit of Blade Runner - a kind of cyberpunk, a man-made drama with Chinese neon signs along the corridor. And even though everything softened in the end, the result is a very bright and emotional interior. For us, this is a kind of experiment: color coding in pieces and a large vinaigrette from different solutions for materials and textures. The result is "almost CrosbyStudios," as they wrote to us in the comments on Instagram. At the same time, it was possible to create in places a very intimate and cozy atmosphere, well equipped in terms of technology - there is “smart” light, “smart” climate, etc.

In addition to Gazpromneft, you have another “big fish” among your customers - Sberbank. How did you become friends with EvolutionDesign and what in your project, What do you think ensured the victory in the competition for the headquarters on Kutuzovsky Prospekt? Is it the same suspended meeting room?

Participation in this tender - a coincidence In principle, it was luck to find out that it was being held. Then we talked with our Swiss colleagues in the style: you are, they say, attractive, we are damn attractive, why waste time ©, you will still need adapters. They invented this suspended meeting room, and Sberbank got hooked on the wow effect. And then we, together with the team of the customer and contractors, put all this into practice.

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  1/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  2/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  3/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  4/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  5/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  6/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

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  7/7 Interior of the Gazprom Neft Innovation Center in New Holland. Competition project © T + T Architects

What were you responsible for in the project in the end?

When it became known about the victory of EvolutionDesign, it quickly became clear that the task was much broader than just interior design. At the same time, another company was doing a project for the reconstruction of the entire administrative and shopping complex on Kutuzovsky (previously it was built according to the project of the SK&P workshop for MIRAX GROUP, and since 2016 it belongs to PJSC Sberbank and turns into Sberbank City - editor's note). All the time we were forced to pull her with questions from the series: do you have this, and this is how you have it, and this is when you have it. So we were offered to design the entire volume - as for those who need it the most. As a result, we made a complex reconstruction project with all the consequences in the form of expertise and working documentation for various sections.

At that moment it became clear that we are dealing with a unique object - due to the depth of more than 15 meters. And away we go: scientific support of the construct, alternative calculations and, in general, the increased attention of the Expertise to us and our project. And this, after all, not to mention the suspended meeting room! She aroused special interest in Expertise and clashed like on a battlefield. First, we hung it on English cables, then on French ones, but all the time something was missing - either certification in Russia, or a test report. As a result, they strained the Russian manufacturers, who made everything look like the French DETAN. Thanks to SK "Struktura", because according to the test results, the indicators turned out to be even better than the design ones.

It seems that in this project you have set a record for uniqueness …

Yes, a unique conference hall has also been added there! For its construction, it was necessary to cover the entire atrium without a single column at the level of the second floor. I had to design large-span structures, a very complex system of trusses. And most importantly, the hall had to meet high acoustic standards, comparable to those required for concerts of symphonic music. Thus, this system of trusses had to be "married" with engineering systems and multimedia, concert lighting and sound - there such a mix of structures was obtained! An error of 10 cm in the model, panic and gray hair for everyone: those who design metal structures, those who install sound and light, those who prepare cladding from 1380 (!) Types of triangular acoustic panels that hide everything behind them. communications. If something "goes" in one place, then everything "goes". And it was such a challenge for each member of the team that when they assembled the entire model of this hall together in REVIT, when they received all the data from everyone, superimposed it and checked for collisions, we immediately shed a tear. At some point, the GAP of the project realized that he was actually the GIP.

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  1/5 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  2/5 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  3/5 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  4/5 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  5/5 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

And even though we are not the authors of the concept for interiors or facades, we have implemented this whole story and made it possible. We brought all the solutions together, made the necessary detail, released the working documentation, dived as deep as possible. Technically, it turned out to be a very complex and interesting product. We realized that the thrill of designing is precisely this - to find a solution, to understand how to implement what was initially incomprehensible and how to do it.

And what about the Swiss - how did you work with them?

From the very start of the project, we had a good understanding, and they saw in us not just technical adapters, but full-fledged co-authors, in many respects trusted, tried not to slow down. And now, in their applications for all awards, they write like this: T + T Architects is a Russian partner. And this is the main indicator of success in terms of collaboration with foreigners.

We have experience working with the British, Italians, and Germans. The latter, for example, are now advising on the restoration project of the Ambassador's House on Povarskaya - this is an architectural monument.

Yes, and there have been a lot of our projects recently. The concepts of two club houses and a residential area in Yekaterinburg, finishing work on the interiors of common areas in the residential complex Kutuzovsky XII for CapitalGroup have been completed, and the implementation of several office projects in Moscow and St. Petersburg is coming to an end. We also completed the adaptation of the winery project and are providing support in the Crimea. The loft quarter Studio # 12 has been completed, which we started in 2015 as a conceptual continuation of Studio # 8. The format turned out to be in great demand.

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  1/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  2/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  3/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  4/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  5/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / Courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  6/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  7/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / Courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

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  8/8 Interiors of Sberbank headquarters at Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32 Photo © Sergey Melnikov / Courtesy of Sberbank PJSC

But if on Sokol there were references to the village of artists and its narrow streets, then in Maryina Roshcha we have a more modernist history of Star City. The typology of buildings has changed and the volume of areas has become a little larger, and the houses are a little higher and deeper. But the main thing is that the idea of thematic zoning and division into residential and public parts has been preserved. There is a welcoming public area of the quarter with low-rise buildings, basic landscaping, MAFs and art objects, and, most likely, all retail will be concentrated here. The second zone is more comfortable, private and residential, and it is just removed from the passage zone and there are fewer open spaces and areas in it. There is also a landscaped backyard aimed at residents. At the same time, the quarter is dotted with such passages, which just add up to an intricate pedestrian network, along which you can make an evening promenade.

I wonder if it will be possible to create an atmosphere similar to Studio8 there? Still, the contingent in Maryina Roshcha is completely different …

A lot will depend on the right residents. In the case of Studio # 8, the developer himself was engaged in the selection, and the fact that the project "shot" as an infrastructure for the entire surrounding sleeping area is largely due to the composition of tenants. If the approach does not change, then it will definitely be a success. Now there are practically no alternatives except for the Capitol shopping center, which accumulates all the traffic.

I remember that in one of your first interviews you said that the main thing is to find your niche and develop it. Moreover, over time, the niche can change, as in your case - from MOPs and landscaping to commercial interiors and redevelopment. What niche would you like to master in the future?

Moscow has a program for the development of industrial zones - these are several territories marked in the master plan, where production is preserved and it is planned to create technoparks and industrial clusters. One of them is in our work now - the complex development area # 42. There is a plant of measuring instruments, which must be preserved, auto repair shops, garages, warehouses, etc. The task is to unite everyone into a full-fledged industrial cluster! And this is a new and unexpected typology, since everything can really be streamlined and comfortable conditions for work and production locations can be created without adding a residential function to the territory.

In addition, there are many artifacts located here. For example, an old trolleybus depot with domed hangars is located nearby. There are also interesting examples of industrial architecture of the Soviet period, which can be preserved and made, if not iconic, then at least recognizable markers of the entire territory, which will emphasize its history. Our vector of development, as it was directed towards the development of industrial zones and architecture, has remained, which we are proud of. If you think about it, the majority of Russian architects over the past 10 years have not really had any other "profitable" typology, except for housing. Nobody was involved in "promkoy" as such, and these are potentially large-scale projects not just within the city, but also within the country. And this, I hope, will become a separate big topic in our work and creativity in the coming years.

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  1/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  2/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  3/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  4/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  5/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  6/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov

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  7/7 Loft-quarter Studio 12 Photo © Ilya Ivanov