New aggradation territories on Vasilyevsky Island have given St. Petersburg a chance to retain its historical position as the leading Russian city on the Baltic Sea coast. An international contest was held in 2015 to choose the best design for the first residential facility on this important land, and the jury awarded the top prize to two teams with a similar conceptual spirit: KCAP Holding B.V. & + Orange Consortium from the Netherlands and A.Len Architectural Bureau. After the successful design of the pilot, Block 6, the Russian-Dutch tandem continued to cooperate on the next stages of this project.
The top objective of the Golden City ensemble is to form the skyline of the embankment on the Gulf of Finland and become a landmark which the city can present to guests arriving on cruise ships and ferry boats to the Sea Facade Passenger Port. They will remember the residential facility first and foremost by the silhouettes of the Golden Towers, which add to the city’s main landmarks – the spires of the St. Peter-and-Paul Cathedral and the Admiralty. The second objective is to create a creative environment for life, work, and recreation. To this end, the project has been divided into four archetypes that are of considerable significance for the design: The Gulf of Finland (water), the courtyards (space), the towers (views) and the spires (image of a dream).
The morphology of the complex uses the structure of St. Petersburg’s historic center, with its self-contained city blocks, labyrinths of courtyards and various small gardens. This classic principle of organizing the urban environment offers protection from sea winds at street and courtyard levels, while creating a diverse range of public spaces. Fitting with this solution, Block 6 consists of two perimeter-shaped buildings with one closed and one open courtyard; the accentuated construction elements are elevated from 6 to 17 floors. This has been done not only in order to create an expressive silhouette, but to take into consideration the wind chart, open up the views of the gulf and make the facility permeable.
As the facility is built, it will gradually emerge as a line of connected courtyards and spaces, each with its own theme. The blocks will be united by the “Neighbors and Us” theme, and individuality will be guaranteed by a number of landscaping solutions, characteristic of the Baltic countries.Block 7, for example, will showcase the landscaping traditions of St. Petersburg with modern interpretations of world-famous palace parks and gardens, game elements and sculptural compositions, characteristic pavements and railing patterns. The public spaces will allow for a variety of recreational activities for adults and children, and the elevated level of the courtyards will create an unusual solution in terms of its planes and volumes. The complex will incorporate ground-level and underground parking lots, and bike racks will be set up along the pavements and in the archways of buildings.
The Golden City project is being implemented with assistance from KCAP Holding B.V. & Orange Consortium.
Official website https://goldencityspb.ru
Territory of Nevskaya Guba, Finsky Bay, west of Vasilievsky Island, St. Petersburg, Russia
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