Archcouncil sent the reconstruction project for Army Surplus Store on Vozdvizhenka back for review

Architectural Council of Moscow sent the reconstruction project for a multifunctional center on 10 Vozdvizhenka street back for review. According to chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov, we need a compromise instead of the proposed solution.

He reiterated that the structure is a new-build and the owner decided that the building needs to be more contemporary. ‘Right now, it’s a new structure that has no status or a recognized aesthetic value. The building received a lot of criticism, the city has not been a big fan of it,’ he said. ‘If we do work on it, we need to make improvements into the project. For now, our colleagues doubt it that the proposal can make the existing building better. That’s why we will be searching for ways to improve it. Changes have to be positive, otherwise what’s the point.’

Some Archcouncil members believe that it would be best just to leave the building alone.

The reconstruction project presented by АВ development previews changes in the exterior of the dome, the first floor designated for retail, and the entrance.  There are plans to completely replace all the windows and to make the granite cladding on the facades matte.

The design focus of the new façade lies in the creation of portals along the arcade of the second-floor façade.  The solution is harmoniously aligned with the existing image of the building and the existing façade cladding above. It is planned to put a café and a restaurant on the ground floor and replace the tenant (right now the floor is occupied by a children’s store). The ground floor will have more lighting and will visually connect with the second office floor. The concept was created by Ben Adams Architects.

Background: the Army Surplus Store was built in 1911-1913. In 1992, due to a deformation in the bearing façade of the building, a marble plate broke off the pillars on the fourth-floor level and fell. Due to its emergency condition the store was shut down. In 2003, the Army Surplus Store was dismantled.  In its place, a new building was built with the project by Vladimir Kolosnitsyn who was in charge of Workshop 7 of Mosproekt-2 named after M.V. Posokhin.