Nalchik, Russia
RTDA’s Nalchik Resort Town Master Plan for the Nalchik Town Administration in Kabardino-Balkaria is a conscientious approach to development that places value not only on infrastructure but also on cultural preservation and sustainable tourism.
The area of the Nalchik Resort Town located in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia can be described as a unique natural area with outstanding cultural value expressed in architecture, art, and other cultural traditions.
The solutions and recommendations proposed in the Master Plan are designed to maximize the existing merits and find additional tools that contribute to the sustainable development of the town.
For its sustainable design, Nalchik Resort Town Master Plan has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The development concept assumes a global synergy effect.
The implementation of the master plan will ensure both the restoration of previously lost valuable elements of the urban environment and the creation of new principal magnets of tourism along with environmental improvement.
The master plan provides for full integration of the natural environment into urban zones.
Boulevards and public gardens are provided with various infrastructure facilities.
Walking and cycling routes will become part of the restored and newly created environments, going beyond the resort area, and harmoniously fitting into the planning pattern of the town.
The synergy of natural elements of the resort area and urban spaces will provide the best use of the climatic, health-improving, and recreational resources of Nalchik throughout the year.
The plan will allow full use of its infrastructure to hold various events at a regional and national scale in the fields of culture, art, education, sports, and other activities aimed at involving of different social groups.
The proposed town planning pattern will provide the resort area with additional access points, diversify tourist routes, create a more attractive environment for spontaneous walks, as well as improve vehicular circulation.
The comprehensive master plan is aimed at enhancing the positive environmental effect of the unique facilities of the resort town and their transformation into local catalysts for the progressive and sustainable development of Nalchik.
The new development concept also provides solutions for the reasonable spatial and functional densification of individual zones of the resort area in order to create new conditions for the development of tourism, event, leisure, and other activities.
Taken in totality, the solutions proposed in the Nalchik Resort Town Master Plan are aimed to achieve a balanced recreational environment that will serve as a solid basis for sustainable long-term development both of the town and the region.
The renovation of Nalchik in its new capacity will not only have a positive effect on the town’s and region’s economy but also strengthen the sense of identity and belonging by the residents of the republic.
Thus, in the near future, Russian and foreign tourists will be invited to rediscover the beauty of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Project: Nalchik Resort Town Master Plan
Architects: RTDA
Lead Architect: Dina Dridze and Ivan Astafurov
Design Team: Marina Lepeshkina, Maxim Makarov, Evgeny Ivanenko, Ekaterina Vlasenko, Irina Cherkesova, and Irina Yamashkina
General Contractor: RTDA
Client: Nalchik Town Administration
Photographs Courtesy of the Architects
