Gold Winner | Residential Complex on Bolshaya Ordynka Street in Moscow

The residential complex is planned to be built between Bolshaya and Malaya Ordynka streets right next to the Tretyakovskaya metro station exit. A recently identified cultural heritage building is located on the site: the first Soviet automatic telephone exchange building built in 1930 by the architect V. Patek. Constructed in the constructivist style from monolithic reinforced concrete structures, the building is a characteristic monument of its time, which the architects by all means sought to preserve. The new residential volume is located behind and slightly setback from the telephone exchange building, making it possible to arrange a cozy courtyard between them. Borisov Architects designed the new building with a stepped silhouette, gradually descending (from 9 to 4 floors) going from Malaya to Bolshaya Ordynka Street, in this way harmonizing the buildings from different eras with each other and helping to integrate the 21st century volume into the existing historical context of the area as delicately as possible. This task was also given to the architectural design of the complex’s facades, where the authors used a balanced mix of classical proportions and modern techniques in plasticity. The strong rhythm of the facades, clearly echoing the rhythm of the neighboring constructivist building, is created by wide vertical pylons, while both the rounded corners of the building volume itself as well as the pylons flanking the entrances to the complex help to avoid the common monotony of such a design. The pylons themselves are additionally accented with multidirectional corrugation, emphasizing the straightforward massiveness and texture of the natural stone that was chosen for the facade cladding. In contrast to this pronouncedly tactile cladding, the walls of the upper levels, which retreat from the site boundaries, are made entirely of glass that the architects have assembled into elegant folds. The first floors of the complex are planned to be allocated for public and commercial functions and parking will be located on two underground levels.

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