In the near future a new business center may be built in the industrial zone “South Port” located in the south-east of Moscow, which can compete even with MIBC Moscow City.
The industrial zone is located between the metro stations “Pechatniki”, “Tekstilshchiki” and “Kozhukhovo”, the area is about 400 hectares, and Moscow has huge plans for this territory.
The development plan of “South Port” involves both the construction of modern housing and the development of social and transportation infrastructure. A multifunctional embankment will also be organized.
The concept of complex development of this industrial zone provides for the formation of the dominant capital, similar to the Moscow International Business Center. This location will be the new possible territory, which, according to the plans, will become Moscow-City-2.
In April 2021, AEON Corporation and Ferro-Stroy held an international competition of architectural projects for the development of this industrial zone with an area of 36.44 hectares. A futuristic project by the Japanese architectural bureau Nikken Sekkei was announced the winner of the competition.
Nikken Sekkei Project
Despite the fact that the area of the whole “South Port” is more than 400 hectares and the development works are designed for 30 years ahead, the first towers with the new business center should appear within the next 7 years. The project envisages allotment of the territory, which previously housed railroad tracks, for green areas with access to a landscaped embankment.
Also according to the project, by the end of 2023 the construction of a new metro station “South Port” located on the Lublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line will be completed.
The development site will include 1.5 million square meters of real estate. Residential areas will amount to 1 million square meters, and non-residential (including schools, kindergartens, polyclinic) – 415 thousand meters. In City-2 it is planned to build 20 towers, 2 art centers, a glass atrium, covered avenues, a soaring restaurant, yacht and ferry berths, as well as an esplanade, a central plaza and public parks.
Along the embankment, 16 residential high-rises (from 90 to 200 meters), 4 apartment hotel towers and a 350-meter-high office skyscraper will be built. The first floors will be allocated for commercial areas and social services.
It is planned to develop an embankment, where the shopping area and other activities will be concentrated. The theater and the center of contemporary art will be united into a cultural and museum zone.
The project investors are pursuing several objectives.
- Turning the transportation and interchange hub into a new dominant feature for the capital’s residents. For what purpose it will open here, on the one hand, offices, atrium and hotels, and on the other hand, observation decks, sights and walking areas.
- Return of the coastline to Muscovites. The industrial zone will become a territory where citizens will actively spend their time.
- Return of the lost natural resource of this location, preservation and its development. For this purpose a central park and satellite parks are designed here, where events and sports can be held. The roofs of 2 skyscrapers are dedicated to gardens.
Kamen office project
At the end of 2022, the Nikken Sekkei bureau withdrew from the project, as a result of which the competition was held anew. The new winner was announced to be the Russian architectural firm Kamen by Ivan Grekov.
The project of Kamen bureau assumes more standardized development than the original project of the Japanese bureau. The smooth lines of the towers have been replaced by angular ones, the skyscrapers have become noticeably thinner, but their number has increased. But, it should be noted that many towers have interesting facades.
In the project there are no lintels in the towers at high height. It is not yet known whether 5 parks remain in the project, but there is a cable car that will connect the neighborhood with the opposite bank of the river, and a yacht club. The houses along the embankment are characterized by the author of the project as “horizontal skyscrapers”.
The new visual center of Ivan Grekov’s project is 3 sloping high-rises with truncated pyramidal shape. The towers expand towards the base, and closer to the ground they are all connected by a common stylobate. Nevertheless, the connection with Nagatinsky Zonoton is planned to be preserved.
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The project will include two locations, one is located near the iCITY Business Center and Headliner Residential Complex, and the other is the Kamushki district itself. Development in the Kamushki neighborhood will start in the first turn. Now two sites for three high-rise buildings have already been approved. The purpose of the towers is residential premises.
In general, the height of the project has not changed, the maximum height of the towers will be 450 meters. Recall that today the tallest building in Moscow is the Federation Tower “Vostok”, the height of which is – 373.7 meters.
There is information that the realization of the project on the territory of the district “Kamushki” can begin within 1.5 years.
In total in Moscow City-2 there will be 12 high-rises, and they will be of different storeys. The projects of the towers are somewhat simplified to the level of classic skyscrapers. And if these high-rises will be realized, it will turn “Moscow City” from a local high-rise district into a mega-project, which will look from the outside as a large ensemble of skyscrapers flowing smoothly from one to another – the skyline of “Big City”. It will certainly be the largest modern Skyline in Europe and one of the largest in Eurasia.
Perhaps this is how impressive City-2 will look in the future. If all the conceived plans are realized, this large-scale project has every chance to become a more comfortable place to live and work, and a full-fledged alternative to the Moscow City MMDC.
