Novil residential complex | IP Kugaevsky K.V. (architectural studio "Axio")

Novil residential complex is located 3 km from the city. Chelyabinsk on Novogradskoye highway. Building format: Medium-rise buildings with apartment buildings of 5-7 floors and accents of up to 9 floors.

Land area: 40 ha .

Selling area of apartments: 300,000 sq.m.

Commercial area for sale: 15,000 sq.m.

Population: 10,000 people.

BACKGROUND. When working on the project from the very beginning, the task was to move away from the format of a "residential complex" and create at least a small city, with all its mandatory attributes. This is a necessary condition for a project in which there is no pedestrian connection to the existing urban development. This decision was also facilitated by a fairly large area of the site and the decision of the developer to locate a production facility on the project territory — the Molniya watch factory (which is currently located in the city center Chelyabinsk), which creates about 300 jobs.

THE MAIN IDEA. Nowadays, the term "city" is usually defined through accessibility and diversity of infrastructure. This is a necessary condition, but it is equally important that the nature of the building creates a sense of the city, looks like a city where you want to live and spend time. To do this, the project should include traditional urban spaces: streets, squares, boulevards, squares, etc. The main idea was the conscious design and integration into the development of these urban spaces, formed on the basis of the best examples of world urban planning practice throughout its history.

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION. When forming the image of a new city, we drew inspiration from the best examples of urban spaces, the places where we like to be and where we want to return.

CONNECTIONS = STREETS. The main paths from the entrances to the project to its community center are made in the form of traditional city streets, the main principle of which is a dense building front along the red lines. Streets have physical boundaries in the form of building facades for at least 70% of their length. Due to this, leaving any courtyard, residents immediately find themselves in a space that is uniquely defined by them as "urban". The second important attribute of the street is trees, which can be planted on both sides of the street.

MAIN SQUARE. The main square is the heart of the city! Unfortunately, the practice of creating spaces in modern new construction is almost lost. They are being replaced everywhere by platforms that, although they can perform their functions, are completely devoid of expressiveness. The difference between a site and an area is the presence or absence of vertical boundaries in the form of building facades. In this project, we bring back this traditional and very expressive element of the city. The main square is optimally sized for a project of this scale. Special attention is paid to its physical vertical boundaries. With the help of landscaping and small architectural forms, the space of the square is visually divided into parts, which, on the one hand, allows you to avoid too much open space, on the other hand, to accommodate a lot of people on it, for example, during holidays and other mass events. In the center of the square there is a "dry" fountain, the place of which is occupied by a Christmas tree in winter.

THE TOWN CENTER. The town center is located directly next to the square. It is a system of pedestrian spaces made on a very chamber scale: two streets, one 9 wide and the other 5(!) wide. meters and a mini-square measuring 8×12 meters. These spaces are formed by public buildings: a cafe, a restaurant, shops, and an apartment building with commercial premises on the ground floor (along one of the street boundaries). In fact, this is an ordinary small shopping center, corresponding to the scale of the project, but not squeezed into a standard "box", but consisting of several buildings. This approach, in addition to performing the usual functions, allows you to create very cozy and expressive urban spaces in the spirit of the old pedestrian city. Special attention is paid to the formation of spaces with complex geometries: pedestrian streets bend smoothly, right angles are minimized, architectural solutions of facades change every 6-10 meters, which adds to the feeling of the "magic of the old city" to this place.

BOULEVARD AND GREEN AREA. Further, behind the town center, there is a boulevard and a green area — a city square or a mini-park. Given that the project is surrounded on three sides by a mixed forest, there is no need to make a full-fledged park in it. The main function of greenery in the city is to bring diversity to the urban landscape. In a very small space, two traditional elements of the city have been created: a boulevard and a square.

THE MAIN PLAYGROUND. The central children's playground is located after the boulevard and the green area. Its main function is to "lure" children out of the yards. As a result, children from all over the project will gather in one place and will always be able to find "kindred spirits" or just peers for common games.

COURTYARDS. The project gives absolute priority to the creation of public urban spaces, while courtyards are given a secondary role. According to the concept, courtyards are a place for those who are under 7 and over 70 years old. The courtyard in the project is a small semi—private square, which is used only by residents of the houses forming it. This is a place for a relaxing holiday, all noisy activities are carried out beyond its limits. Landscaping of the yard is as simple as possible, but at the same time high-quality. Special attention is paid to landscaping.

Currently, the understanding of a city is based mainly around infrastructure, its development and diversity, social communities, digitalization, various systems from transport to automated delivery services, etc.

A very important point is often overlooked: when focusing on what the infrastructure (i.e., content) of a modern city should be, we often overlook the question of what the actual structure, that is, the physical structure (shape) of the city, should be.

To find the answer to this question, we looked at the problem from the point of view of an ordinary person. Where is he doing well? What places does he enjoy being in? Where is he willing to stay? When does he choose a longer path instead of taking a shortcut? Where does he prefer to walk in the evening?

As a rule, such places are located in the historical centers of cities, and these include traditional urban spaces: streets, squares (not playgrounds!), boulevards, squares. All these spaces can be completely different in their characteristics, and the key parameter of a pleasant walk is the variety of sensations.

This is exactly the principle we used in the project. Without copying specific examples, you applied the principles on which the best urban spaces are built, and incorporated into the project the main quality, in our opinion, the diversity of urban spaces. In a sense, this is programming the sensations of moving around the city: the sidewalk of a street with car traffic is replaced by a fairly spacious, but at the same time cozy main square; then the space contracts on a narrow pedestrian street, expanding again on the boulevard. After taking a few steps to the side, you can find yourself in the natural surroundings of the city square, then go back to the sidewalk of the city street or go into the real forest bordering the project.

All this turns ordinary movements around the city, whether it's going to the store or to work, into a pleasant walk full of interesting impressions and sensations. As a result, they add up to one common feeling of being in a beautiful, comfortable, modern city!