The Novorossiysk masterplan is based on the idea of Instancing. Inspired by notions of movement of a form through space in time it consists of a series of 9 self-similar buildings that are in a gradient relationship across the site. Connected at various levels with walkways, squares, and podia and controlled by parametric tool, the relationships of volumes are informed by multiple simultaneous iterations that test the orientation, height and thickness of these volumes.
Utilising this parametric model allows the designers and stakeholders alike to accommodate fluctuations in the financial, volumetric, functional and time-related projections of the client without losing control of a coherent and architecturally elegant urban formation. Setting the orientation perpendicular to the sea, the Masterplan ensures maximum open unimpeded views towards the sea, as well as a comfortable layout considering the wind movements in and around the site. This results in a configuration that is porous and well-knit with the city fabric, inviting residents as well as visitors in and around the volumes.
Beginning with the most significant element of the masterplan, an iconic mixed-use complex, that carries the required diversity of functions and facilities. This initial anchor is aimed at signifying the rehabilitation of the promenade walk along the shore of Tsemes Bay. We envision an active and vibrant promenade that hosts a wide range of recreational and leisurely activities such as: outdoor sports classes, a yachting club, a fishing port, spaces for outdoor movie screening or theatrical/musical performances, botanical landscaping, as well as relaxed areas for gazing into the sea and mountainous landscape beyond, are aimed to bring out the authentic characteristics of the city of Novorossiysk and the seaside.
The piers are therefore extensions of the programme into the sea inviting pedestrian uses into the water. We believe this to become a highly active, inviting, and recreational area for the masterplan that would emphasise the role of the sea and also connect with large yachts, ferry boats, fishing boats, water taxis and so on. The project aims to reconnect Novorossiysk with the rest of the regional destinations and be an urban intervention that would.
High connectivity across the site, in the lateral direction drawn from the city to the sea, is critical in order to preserve the open visual lines emerging from the city fabric, maximising visibility of the sea from within the city. Having freed the site of major vehicular access, the masterplan is highly pedestrian-friendly. With this, our masterplan creates a distinct characteristic for Tsemes Bay and Novorossiysk, putting the city on the global and regional map as a destination for tourists and business travellers alike.
- Location: Novorossiysk, Russia
- Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
- ZHA Design Director: Christos Passas
- ZHA Project Architect: Eider Fernandez Eibar
- ZHA Team Leaders: Ben Kikkawa, Alicia Hidalgo Lopez, MelhemSfeir, Kwanphil Cho, Leonid Krykhtin
- ZHA Design Team: Aleksandar Bursac, Maria Touloupou, Ekaterina Smirnova, Maria-Eleni Bali, Anna Uborevich-Borovskaya, Nessma Al Ghoussein, Christina Polyviou, Afsoon Es-haghi, Zsuzsana Barát, Paul Tunnicliffe (Analyst), Vera Kichanova (Researcher) Hussam Chakouf, Nastasija Hahonina and Liudmila Harisson-Jones (Administrative support)
- Local Architect: Pride TPO, Moscow (Nikolay Gordushin, Lena Myzhnokova)
- Landscape Consultant: Arteza, Moscow (Irina Chebanenko)
- Urban Planning Consultant: Prof. Lawrence Barth – Architectural Association School of Architecture, London
- Creative Programming Consultant: Another Architect, Berlin (Daniel Dendra)
- Environmental Design Consultant: Buro Happold, London
- Financial Modelling Consultant: Price Waterhouse Cooper, Moscow (Anton Panarin)
- Cost Management and quantity surveying: Rider Levett Bucknall
- Natural Lighting Studies: Kardorff Ingenieure (Berlin)
- Year: 2018
- Images: Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects