Location: Moscow, Russia.

Architects: Herzog & de Meuron and APEX project bureau.

The Badaevskiy Brewery project aims to redevelop the six-hectare old factory area, between the Moscow River and the vector to Minsk, into a vibrant destination point in central Moscow. The factory grounds and river embankment are to be opened to the city, the old industrial structures are to be restored and brought back to life, and more than 100,000 m² of new residential, office and retail program is to be added to rejuvenate the site, support the complex renovation, and provide quality residential, work and recreation areas. The remaining part of the site is open for new development, within a height restriction of 75 metres. The ‘Horizontal Skyscraper’ is a piece of city lifted up in the air, inspired by the ‘Wolkenbügel’ of the Russian Avant-garde. It sits on many slender stilts like an elevated lodge in the forest, connecting the building with the ground and the park-like trunks of trees.

It brings three key advantages: a new green area, an urban park, and top floors with prime views to the Brewery, Kutuzovskiy Prospekt, Ukraina Hotel, the State Duma, Moscow City, and beyond. The Badaevskiy Brewery development follows the outlines of heritage structures and the established north-south orientation of the old industrial grid, creating an undulating form that maximizes the views out to the river. It consists of approximately 100’000 m² of residential area, with 870 units varying in size from 5-room apartments to studios. The apartments are highly individualized in terms of layout and facade expression and offer sweeping panoramic views with their fully glazed facades. A single underground complex on three floors connects and serves all the buildings and provides the required parking, delivery and support facilities. The entire plot is kept exclusively pedestrian and permeable to provide easy and direct public access from the river promenade to the microcosm of activities in the project.