Paveletskaya Plaza is a project formed by context. Located within the historic site of the Moscow Paveletsky Railway Station, the project functions as part urban park, part retail center. Following strict municipal guidelines, Paveletskaya codifies the historic and the modern into a unified vision, with each element acting in harmony with the next.

When built in 1900 by Russian architect Alexander Krasovsky, the adjacent historic station fulfilled a grand vision of connecting Russia’s Pavelets, or surrounding suburbs, to Moscow. It welcomed travelers into ornate interiors fashioned in the architectural canons of the time and invite visitors into a square garden situated directly in front of the station and the Garden Ring Road. Over time, plans to expand the station and bring in a road at the northwest side for automobile access effectively bifurcated the park and siloed the iconic station from the inherent continuity it once held.

The new design’s primary role looks to reestablish this lost connection between the historic structure and the plaza. Height limitations and view corridors support this effort by solidifying a visual balance between the station and the surrounding elements. At the park level, a system of layers accentuates interconnected spaces to activate the public realm near the street level. Programmable sunken plazas and stepped gardens meet with elevated, cantilevered lawns; and sculptural covered spaces reveal a series of restaurants and event terraces. Open green space and pedestrian walkways form a continuous flow of pedestrian access from all sides. The northwest road that was once accessible primarily by automobile will now limit vehicular access in order to institute a pedestrian zone in between the station and the plaza.

Exterior furniture is represented in the form of natural stones and wooden seating arrangements speckled throughout the park. Lightwells serve a dual function as observation point to peer down inside the retail concourse from the park and to pull daylight into the mall interior.

Primarily below-grade, the shopping center entrances are raised above ground and maintain a constant dialogue with the station and the park above. An iconic glass entrance canopy at the east side is edged with landscape that peels away from the park and extends into the interior retail court below.

Supported by two tree-like columns, the glass saddle-shaped roof and grand stair extend beyond the 13-meter-high glass façade. To the west, a green lawn fades into horizontal glass and a level change exposes a nestled second entrance. Here, the warmth of a birch soffit cups the cantilevering lawn and continues the effect inside until fading into the underside of the horizontal glass. At the interior arrival landing, dramatic views of restaurants across the atrium are exposed as well as the food court below.

These iconic entrances are linked by two strands of lightwells at the plaza level that dissolve into planting, seating and sculpture. These same sculptural forms morph at the retail level into distinct oculi defining each concourse. Together, lightwells and entrance court skylights create an exchange of natural and artificial illumination between the park and the retail concourses below. This active exchange works in unison to remind visitors of the life and activity occurring above and below the ground plane.

In its entirety, Paveletskaya Plaza satisfies a series of challenges by framing each as an opportunity to unify distinct pieces. The dynamic assemblage formed between the station, the street-level plaza, the subterranean retail space, and the Garden Ring Road establishes a visual and spatial connection across multiple elevations to create an enhanced experience throughout.

COLLABORATORS

Landscape Architects and Plaza Collaborators: SWA

Lighing Designers: ACT Lighting Design