Urban Block Collection

The city of Tyumen is in western Siberia, about 1,700 kilometres from Moscow. In recent decades the city´s population has been expanding constantly: between 2002 and 2019 alone the total number of inhabitants jumped from 582,000 to 789,000. As such Tyumen is already bigger than Frankfurt am Main. In order to meet demand for housing, compact building forms are becoming more attractive. And so, for this new project to build 254 apartments in a mixed-use area close to the city centre and the river Tura, the proposal is for a compact and continuous perimeter-block development. As with the residential block in Yekaterinburg, here, too, the basis for the design is a modular façade system which had previously been developed in an architectural competition (“Urban Block Collection”). This system is based in turn on the design grid specified by Brusnika which enables a high degree of prefabrication for the building components.

Again, the starting point for the design of this urban project is the model of the “European city” with its clearly defined street and courtyard spaces, the density and compactness of the building volume and the articulated construction of the façade. The 76 x 90 metre development – smaller in dimension than in Yekaterinburg – is interpreted in the form of a small city block, or monoblock. The design idea derives in the first instance from this self-confident large-scale form and emphasises the block-like quality of the building volume, primarily in terms of form, materiality and colour.

No attempt was made to give the impression of individual sections, nor was there any emphasis on the horizontal or the vertical in the façades. The base story, which accommodates a line of retail outlets and small businesses, is given a representative character, thanks to its height, spanning two floors along the main road and at the corners of the block. In the residential floors above, the windows are arranged in groups of two set back slightly in sections of grey clinker brick. The result is a regular, relief-like articulated grid with graphic quality, given rhythm and added interest by inset loggias and slightly projecting balconies varied in arrangement according to side and orientation. The restrained plasticity of the façade is sculpturally enhanced towards the top by deep, terraced incisions into the building volume. Terraces for the upper storeys are located in the resulting recesses. One new feature in this project are the roof gardens, providing further open-air spaces for the tenants.

Through its elegant articulation and the warm red tones of the clinker brick, this building volume responds to the urban context. Special attention was given to the north-facing side which is oriented towards a new urban square that is also a part of the development of this city district by Brusnika.

Number of apartments: 254
Start of construction: 2020
Project director: Eppo Haas
Client: Brusnika