Situated in the heart of Moscow within the historical “Garden Ring” road, the building was originally purpose built as an apartment block in the 1870s, but was promptly adopted as a popular local bathing house. Since the 20th century, it has largely been utilized as an administrative offices, but the developer who purchased the building in 2016 - had a vision to return it to its original use.
When restoring the space, AI Studio aimed to take an “honest” approach to the redevelopment – un-ashamedly allowing the new extension to contrast the original neo-classical style prevalent in central Moscow.
Although the original building is not formally listed, we considered it to be a perfect example of classic Moscow architecture, so our approach was to sensitively restore the original fabric of the building, whilst designing an upper extension which provides a distinctive contemporary contrast.
The generous extension at the top of the building offers enough space for double height penthouses within, and features cladding of perforated Corten steel composite panels on the exterior.
Meanwhile, on the ground floor, the covered courtyard presents a reception and communal area for residents, alongside retail opportunities. This communal area is flooded with natural light from circular skylights, which are installed in the elevated private roof terrace directly above the courtyard, exclusively for residents’ use.
The freshly extended building named Sovremennik, features a collection of 75 apartments ranging in size from 32 to 146 sq m and includes two floors of parking, with space for up to 43 cars.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.