The residential complex "Oblaka" was built in Lyubertsy near Moscow, and ahead of schedule. Apartments are already being settled, and residents and potential buyers continue to debate on the Internet about life near the railway: some consider the close proximity to the noisy Lyubertsy-1 station a minus, and some consider it a huge plus, because you can always get from it to the center of Moscow, quickly and without traffic jams.
The project of the complex was developed by the architectural bureau "Mezonproekt" by order of the development company 3-RED. This is a fairly well-known developer, on his account such implemented projects as the residential complex Novokraskovo, Vidny Bereg, low-rise May, House on Barvikhinskaya and others..
The head of the architectural bureau "Mezonproekt" Ilya Mashkov said that they were faced with a rather difficult task: in a short time to design commercially attractive housing on a very cramped and difficult area from the point of view of the environment. However, this initial situation is quite typical. Developers, in a sense, expect a miracle from Russian architects. And surprisingly, sometimes a miracle happens.
The site with an area of slightly less than 0.8 hectares occupies an angular position at the intersection of Initiative Street and Komsomolsky Prospekt. The railway tracks run parallel to Initiative Street. The movement of electric trains here is very intense - from early morning until late at night. The four-lane Komsomolsky Prospect approaches the railroad perpendicularly and turns into a high overpass just in the area of the new complex.
The environment around the new housing unit is very diverse. From the Lyubertsy-1 station, shopping centers, bright low-rise pavilions and market tents stretch to the left and right. But the farther from the station, the more comfortable: residential areas of the late Soviet era, 1990s and early 2000s, kindergartens and schools, grocery stores and cafes. Within walking distance - Natashinsky park with two large ponds. The new residential complex serves as a kind of dividing strip, a bastion separating the center of Lyubertsy from the bustle of the railway. With all this, the courtyard part of it is deployed in the direction of the station.
The complex consists of two buildings, three sections each. A high, long 25-storey building fences off the territory from the automobile overpass. A lower volume with a variable number of storeys from 14 to 18 floors, stands in the back of the courtyard, guards the rear. And from the side of Initiative Street, the courtyard space is protected by an iron fence and two two-storey buildings preserved on the site (during the construction there was a sales office and a showroom).
This arrangement is associated not only with the desire to create an enclosed and safe courtyard. The complex catches the sun's rays as much as possible, opening to the south side. At the same time, only the street facade of the 25-storey building, which looks to the north-west, experiences a lack of lighting. The problem is solved by triangular bay windows. In addition to providing insolation inside the apartments, bay windows also increase their area, as well as enrich the geometry of the space. The teeth of the bay windows add special expressiveness to the facade itself. Without them, he would have looked less interesting.
At the design stage, it was assumed that the complex, in addition to apartments, will include apartments. A whole section was allocated for them - the extreme one, 18-storey. However, then the function was revised, and now it is an office center with a separate entrance from the street. The entire architecture of the complex is built on the dialogue of the rhythmics of the facades - a uniform mesh in the residential part and a dynamic "checkerboard" one in the office.
Ilya Mashkov recalls that the image was formed almost immediately - restrained, laconic, without an excess of plastics, with a calm color scheme - to match the Lyubertsy sky. At the same time, both in height and in the accuracy of architectural solutions, the new house obviously claims to be a dominant role.
Ilya Mashkov, Mezonproject
“The buildings around our site are quite homogeneous - standard residential buildings, many typical buildings. Against this background, our building, reflecting modern architectural trends, easily becomes a dominant in terms of visual perception."
The outer shape of the buildings interprets the commercial name of the complex - "Clouds". The sky in all its colors is read here quite clearly, the facades have been transformed into a kind of palette, with the help of which the artist selected suitable shades for his picture of a cloudy sky. The main background color is light gray, almost white, cloudy foggy. Dark graphite spots and vertical lines - thunderclouds appear on it with dashed accents. And next to them - flashes, blotches of gray, gray-greenish, pale blue - as if the fog and clouds at some point scattered and pieces of a clear sky appeared in the gaps.
But this is if you look at the house from the yard. At the street facade and ends, the dominant color is dark gray, thunderous. The dark parts of the buildings gravitate towards the overpass, the light ones look into the courtyard. The large pixel-line art in cool pastel colors refreshes the home, partly offsetting the simplicity of its shape.
Such a vivid perception of volume was achieved by alternating fiber cement panels of the ventilated facade. They differ not only in color, but also in size and texture. Dark textured, embossed panels with vertical and horizontal patterns attract a lot of attention. In the residential part, they echo the grilles of the air conditioner baskets, and in the office, they practically single-handedly create a dynamic image of the building. There, the panels take windows in black frames, which alternate, move, change the proportions of window openings and in such a simple way enliven the facades as much as possible. Only the top four floors of the office block "call to order" with their clear vertical lines.
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Image 
zooming 1/3 LCD Oblaka Photo courtesy of 3-RED
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zooming 2/3 LCD Oblaka Photo courtesy of 3-RED
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zooming 3/3 LCD Oblaka Photo courtesy of 3-RED
The residential complex is positioned as comfort class housing. It presents a typical range of apartments - from studios to three-room apartments.
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zooming 1/7 Sections 1-5. Plan of the 1st floor. Section 6. Plan of the 1st floor. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 2/7 Sections 1-5. Plan of the 2nd floor at elev. +3.600 Section 6. Plan of the 2nd floor at elev. +1.650. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 3/7 Sections 1-3. Plan of 15-17 floors at elev. +40.650; +43.500; +46.350 Sections 4-5. Roof plan at elev. +41.122 Section 6. Plan of 8-17 floors at elev. +21.600 - 47.250. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 4/7 Sections 1-5. Plan of 3-14 floors at elev. +6.450 - +37.800 Section 6. Plan of 3-7 floors at elev. +4.500 - +18.750. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 5/7 Section 1-1. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 6/7 Section 2-2. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
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zooming 7/7 Section 3-3. Residential complex Oblaka © Mezonproject
At the same time, public areas and courtyard spaces offer a number of solutions that usually do not apply to houses of this class. So, the entrances to the porches are barrier-free, almost flush with the blind area. A small drop is smoothed out by a ramp, which is extremely convenient for mothers with strollers, cyclists and people with disabilities.
The first floors are occupied by shops, pharmacies, cafes and, of course, entrance lobbies. The latter also bear little resemblance to the comfort class - spacious, bright, with designer interiors.
The courtyard here is not only fenced and guarded, it is also completely free of cars. The entire, albeit small, territory of the courtyard is given over to landscaping, children's and playgrounds, while guest parking spaces are located along the outer contour of the building.
Thus, on the territory of the complex it was possible to achieve a feeling of calmness and comfort. In this situation, an isolated courtyard looks more than appropriate and justified, it forms that necessary border, without which it would be difficult to live here. Taking a defensive position towards the surroundings - a closed composition, windows with increased noise insulation, a closed area - the complex still strives to become a part of it. After all, passing in the train by Lyubertsy, you will now see "Clouds".
