31 Apartment Complex | 2STORM creative agency

The plot is located in the residential area of Kyiv on the Left Bank of the Dnipro river. One of the advantages of the location is the developed infrastructure of the surrounding area. There are shopping malls and large supermarkets, educational and medical facilities, restaurants, fitness clubs and public transport stops within walking distance. In addition, there is a large green area around the lake with a renovated fitness park located really close. 

The complex is located in the existing building development. It’s surrounded by residential buildings on two sides. Their architecture is metric and «dry». Typical solutions are clearly traced in the architecture. We tried to fit into the context of the existing building development. Buildings in the area are replicated typical projects that have their own tops, which forms the character of the area. Therefore, we took this factor in the basis for morphogenesis.

Vertical segmentation of facades allowed to structurally approach the surrounding buildings, which also have vertical projections in volume. The two buildings were divided into six volumes, where the accents were identified, which were accentuated by panoramic windows and glass balconies in a random order. They created the code design of the complex. On the secondary facades the windows are relatively smaller. There are public spaces with solid stained glass on the ground floors, which logically completed the tectonics of the wall and expressed its function.

The complex consists of the following functional blocks:
• two residential blocks
• commercial unit
• underground unit

In the underground block there are:
• parking for 40 cars
• pantries for apartment dwellers
• engineering premises for maintenance of the complex
• facilities and evacuation cores for connecting
residential buildings with an underground floor.

The commercial block contains:
• offices
• commercial premises
• public catering
• sports hall for the residents of the complex
• music school for the residents of the complex
• lobby for residents of the complex

134 apartments with an area from 44 to 163 m2 are planned in the residential blocks.

Each apartment, regardless of size, has a panoramic window overlooking the green area and the surrounding area. Large windows were placed in the living rooms because this is where residents spend major part of their time.

We designed the volume of the stylobate part of the complex in such way as to get a nice access to the driveway with a green island in the middle. Due to the stylobate, we got two categories of space. The first space is public one. Here we concentrated the main infrastructure: cafes, restaurants, etc. not only for the residents of our complex but also for the whole district. There’s a promenade along the lake to which we have provided with a barrier-free transit from the complex. The second one is private space. This space is above ground level, on the exploited area of the stylobate part, and is accessible only to residents of the complex. Because there is a playground, chamber recreation areas, lots of greenery, and private terraces on the first floors for a comfortable pastime.

An obligatory element of each apartment is an open balcony. One of the problems in Ukraine is the chaotic glazing of balconies, so one of the main requirements for us, as architects, was to design the house in such a way that the balconies could not be glazed.
Due to economic reasons, not all property developers in Ukraine have the opportunity to provide a centralized air conditioning system, so we must provide air conditioning for each room and for each commercial premise so that in the future there won’t be chaos on the facades. In the project, we lay down separate places for placement of external blocks of conditioners which will satisfy engineering and architectural requirements.

The 31 house supports the use of environmentally friendly transport. Every tenth parking place will be provided with a charger for electric cars, and there are also hubs for bicycles.
On the roof of the 1st floor, there is a courtyard with improvement, a playground, recreation areas, and a large area of landscaping. This creates a closed eco-friendly environment for the residents of the complex. The predominant percentage of the roof landscaping reduces its overheating in summer and improves the microclimate of neighboring apartments.
There is a garbage chamber for sorting and storing garbage on the ground floor.
The complex does not provide a hot water supply. Instead, each apartment will have a special water heater (boiler) of the required capacity. This will save the city’s resources and use hot water in a more controlled way.
A separate drainage system is provided for condensate collection, which is planned to be used to feed the landscaping of the territory.