Silver Fountain residential district

However, there are many soviet utilitarian buildings on the same time that will be demolished to give way for residential and commercial use. The ground floors of most buildings are given for public facilities and social infrastructure necessary for everyday life. There will be space for a kindergarten for 125 kids, a new supermarket will be incorporated into an outside corner of the perimeter block and a lot of other important services that give sense of quarter openness to the city life.
The site’s context with industrial zones around it gave the idea of an inner structure with crossed planning axes. The elevation difference of 6 meters from north to south let the architects insert a big semi-underground parking garage, which helps to avoid automobile links inside the quarter by also having a pass-through road. There are two levels of pedestrian routes with a main square marked by fountains on the lower one and bridges on the upper. They lead to 5 semi-private courtyards and the remaining historical buildings. The courtyards are surrounded by residential blocks of different heights that close them from outside eyes.
The image of the central square is determined by high towers. The silver-grey ceramic finishes and vertical elements remind of the water related history of the site.
Landscape design was a part of the project: an old linden alley shall be restored and ponds shall be made. The appearance of the new residential blocks is determined by Geppener’s redbrick architecture, but without style copying, just brick on the façade and big glass openings.