Metropolis | ABD architects

Metropolis, one of the biggest mixed-use developments currently built in Moscow, occupies the site of the former ironworks, lately deserted and partly rented out as DIY market. It has changed the entire lifestyle in the Voikovskaya metro station area.

The development consists of two main parts: a mall with a hypermarket, a 250-shops gallery, cafes and restaurants, an entertainment zone and a cinema; and a business center consisting of three A Class office buildings.

The different function is stressed by means of architecture. A complex volume of the shopping center with terra-cotta facades is set against simplistic glass office blocks, extremely restrained in their geometry, where the simplicity of cubic structures is compensated with plastics of the facades, built on the basis of the interchanging rectangle niches and bay windows. The shopping center is separated from the offices by an open plaza raised above the ground level and separated from the main transit pedestrian traffic. The development is provided parking lots both in the underground garage and on the multi-level deck. Apart from shopping, entertainment and business functions the complex is also a part of a large transportation node. The gallery serves as a sheltered pedestrian connection between the metro station and the prospective passenger railway station.

Car traffic is organized considering the 4th transport ring being built, the compound's parking can be used as a park and ride facility.