TATLIN Apartments
Constructed 1927-8 by the civil engineer V. Patek the Telecom building at number 5 Bakuniskaya is a classic example of Russian industrial constructivism, one of three such identical buildings in Moscow. The four-story building is the letter "T" shape in plan. Its monumental, rendered façade bears the inscriptions - "Mail", "Telephone", "Telegraph". Architects of Invention have retained the main façade, facing onto Bakuninskaya street, restoring its original aesthetic with a light grey plaster render, whilst the windows, doors and metal fixtures are painted in a dark grey aluminium. The historic front section of the building now accommodates retail, cafes and a restaurant with an outdoor terrace. The rear has been reconfigured to provide two large lobby areas at ground floor level, housed in separate cores. These give access to the apart-hotel and are accessed via a double height entrance in the centre of the rear façade. A new independent volume, with a striking, triangular, cantilevered façade, now hovers above the existing historic building. The contrast between old and new is emphasised through materials – the new is a large grid of modular, metallic components and stained glass – and through the dramatic contemporary form. The volumes are connected by a sky-garden,and there are balconies for every room.
