Moscow, Russia

Notable for its distinctive architectural approach and integration into the urban environment, the OPUS Residential Complex designed by Tsimailo Lyashenko and his design team, is an apartment complex’s sweeping elongated form, land art-like situated on Moscow’s Derbenevskaya embankment to the curve of the Moskva River.

For its sustainable design elements and high-quality living spaces, the project has recently won a 2024 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The building varies between two and ten stories tall, and the floor plans are conceived to ensure every apartment has a view of the river.

Mirroring the flow of the river itself, the building generously splays open providing riverfront public access.

The contrast between the bustling riverfront and the quiet secluded space on the back side formed by the building footprint adds to the character of the project.

The entire structure can be divided into four distinct parts, emphasized by the façade design and differentiated by the window systems used.

The glazing area is generously maximized in every unit while protruding buttresses between the units’ terraces contribute to maintaining everyone’s privacy.

Drawing inspiration from water, the design concept entails that the four different public spaces separated by the building’s wings‚ the dynamic riverfront, the quiet courtyard, the landscaped park, and the street side, all spilling one over to another -re-assigned their own nautical mood, expressed, among other things, in their paving patterns.

Project: OPUS Residential Complex
Architects: Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners
Lead Architect: Tsimailo Lyashenko
General Contractor: FODD
Client: PIONEER Company
Photographs: Courtesy of the Architects