RUSSIA’S BLACK SEA REVIVED

Zaha Hadid Architects has won an international competition for the Admiral Serebryakov Embankment masterplan in the city of Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea coast. Connecting Russia with the Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean and Suez Canal, the industrial city is home to the nation’s largest shipping port and the third busiest in Europe.

The ZHA masterplan, designed in collaboration with Russian studio Pride TPO, seeks to integrate new public space and amenities into the rich maritime history and traditions of Novorossiysk, achieved through careful consideration of building orientation, views, and landscape.

The 13.9-hectare masterplan aims to unite “Recreational, cultural, corporate and ecological functions within a coherent composition that reinstates the city’s embankment promenade as important civic space”. The scheme therefore sees nine principal buildings orientated perpendicular to the seas’ front to maintain existing views.

In a concept of “instancing”, the nine buildings offer varying iterations of a single form, evolving in a gradient across the site, with the configuration of each building responding to a unique function and requirement.

Offering a total floor area of over 300,000 square metres, the buildings will contain facilities for civic, cultural and corporate events, as well as a hotel. The restoration of the city’s waterfront also includes the design of vibrant public spaces along Tsemes Bay for residents and visitors, and a new fishing port, marina and piers to reactivate the city’s maritime heritage. 

The outdoor landscaping and public space strategies were aided by the decision to restrict vehicular access to the area, creating opportunities for outdoor leisure, sports and recreation throughout most of the year in the city’s coastal, subtropical climate.

Construction is due to begin in the second half of 2019. Check out a video below by morean-digital realities and Revolution Production Studio, which offers further views and commentary of the proposed scheme.