Site

The building is located to the North-East of Moscow city centre on a street whose heritage dates back to the 17th century.  Originally called  Pokrovskaya street, which referred to the liberation of Moscow by the Poles, it became Bakuninskaya in 1918 in honour of MA Bakunin (1814-1876). Many historical houses have survived to this day, including the 200-year-old house at number 7- 15. In 1886, architect IG Kondratenko built the first factory building on the street, on the plots of houses No. 74 - 76. In 1885 the architect P. P. Shcheglov built a house (No. 54), distinguished by an unusually ornate facade: the pediment was decorated with the head of a lion. In 1891, the architect I. S. Kuznetsov built a house at number 78 for the manufacturer Denisov and in 1904 completed No. 94 for the clergy of the churches of the Moscow Pokrovskaya Community of Sisters of Mercy.

Building description

Constructed 1927-8 by the civil engineer V. Patek the Telecom building at number 5 Bakuniskaya is a classic example of Russian industrial constructivism, one of three such identical buildings in Moscow. The four-story building is the letter "T" shape in plan. Its monumental, rendered façade bears the inscriptions - "Mail", "Telephone", "Telegraph". Architects of Invention have retained this main façade, facing onto Bakuninskaya street, restoring its original aesthetic with a light grey plaster render, whilst the windows, doors and metal fixtures are painted in a dark grey aluminium.  The historic front section of the building now accommodates retail, cafes and a restaurant with an outdoor terrace. The rear has been reconfigured to provide two large lobby areas at ground floor level, housed in separate cores.  These give access to the apart-hotel and are accessed via a double height entrance in the centre of the rear façade.

A new independent volume, with a striking, triangular, cantilevered façade, now hovers above the existing historic building.  The contrast between old and new is emphasised through materials – the new is a large grid of modular, metallic components and stained glass – and through the dramatic contemporary form.  The volumes are connected by a sky-garden,and there are balconies for every room.

There is a single level underground car park with 65 spaces on site.

Structure

The buildings are based on concrete load-bearing, sheer walls and a two core structure. The new volume cantilevers from the south and north by 13m and 7.5m respectively. The transferred slab underneath the new volume is formed as a caisson superstructure.