Russian architecture studio Megabudka Architecture Bureau has completed a hospitality center composed of different black wooden building types in the Lipetsk region, Russia.

Called The Hospitality Center, the 3,500-square-metre center was designed in response to one of the most important problems of modern architecture in Russia that is considered the lack of identity.

With this center, the studio aimed to develop their own vision of the New Russian Style by carrying out research and study on the project. According to the architects, "the created architectural style is not artificial, but is based on rethinking the cultural and value aspects inherent in the national architecture and mentality."

The complex consists of an ensemble of different types of volumes, with each has its own function, including conic geometries, arched windows, linear buildings. 

"Nowadays, Russian architects often imitate contemporary colleagues from other countries," said the office. "As a result, national identity is completely absent in the newly created environment." 

"New objects, erected even in an open field, have also been designed for several decades without realizing that they belong to the national culture."

To achieve this, the design team systematized the process and turned into a determinant of Russian design. 

"This helps not to go beyond the flexible interpretation of the combination of two concepts: avant-garde and tradition. Here the avant-garde is a completely international style, while the traditional is a woodcut, a semblance of brutal, magnificent and excessive," as the team emphasized.

The architects detailed that "the first structure, built in the new Russian style is located in the Lipetsk region, in the Kudykina Gora (translating from Russian: Mountain of Kudyk) park." 

"Before the construction, the owners had been developing the park together with the bureau for several years. The idea of a "rethought national identity" is laid in the foundation of development. Any object: logo, mascot, food, font, planning principles, architecture and the like, appears in the park only if it meets the general concept of identity."

The access to the complex is provided via a circular route along the park's borders for pedestrians. This was also one of the important transformations of the area so that visitors can admire the untouched landscape. A path passes through the most important points of attraction of the park.

The building complex is located at the starting point of the circular route, when entering from the public car park. The circular route through the park begins from here, and the complex guides visitors to choose the direction of travel without additional navigation. 

To enhance the effect, the first block of the building is turned towards the predicted movement of guests. The buildings are shifted relative to the central axis of the entrance so as not to block the perspective view of the iconic landmark of the park - the Fortress.

The blocks have different heights and each volume has its own function. The volumes are designed to form a cozy, comfortable-scale building front, evoking reminiscent of a fragment of a street in the old city. 

As the architects emphasized, "in the future, it is planned to complete the construction with the next blocks of different functions." 

"This will complete the composition of the entire complex and will allow the owners, together with the bureau, to think over the best strategy for responding to the possible requests of park visitors."

All blocks stand on a single stylobate, they are united by a wooden terrace on the roof. The high stylobate part is given over to technical and storage spaces and is partially hidden in the relief. 

Thanks to the use of relief differences, the terrace becomes an observation platform from which dramatic vivid views of the pond, the fortress and the fire-breathing sculpture of Gorynych (a folk hero of Russian fairy tales) which is one of the main attractions of the park, open up. The obtuse shape of the stylobate hangs over the tall grass, resembling the Ladya (a sailing-oared river vessel used in Ancient Rus).

The buildings' facade are made of ebony - black - the color of the board burned out under the sun - is the true color of Russian wooden architecture. 

According to the office, "the volume of the building, regardless of the season, works well with the landscape: on the white snow it looks as epic as possible, and in the warm season it merges with the line of tree trunks of the surrounding forest." 

The combination of architectural techniques dilutes the monumental forms of the buildings of the complex. The team used architectural ornaments of triangular windows, various lattices, belts, cracks, a variety of ways of laying boards, thinning and, of course, proportions with the character of prowess - these are some of the methods of a new interpretation of the architecture of the Russian Izba. 

"We took into consideration the degradation of buildings, as if they were being built by a Russian peasant, eventually completing the required volumes, based on his changing preferences and tastes," added the studio.

Map

Plan

Façades

Project facts

Project name: The Hospitality Center

Architects: Megabudka Architecture Bureau

Location: Lipetsk region, Russia.

Size: 3,500m2 

Date: 2021 

All images © Ilya Ivanov

All drawings © Megabudka Architecture Bureau

> via Megabudka Architecture Bureau