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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin gave the Moscow Restoration 2022 awards for the best project in cultural heritage preservation and promotion, initiated by the Moscow Government. Elena Zueva, Capital Projects Director, GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia, received a diploma.
The contest committee commended GlavUpDK for the best organization of repair and restoration in the Urban Estate category. Three sites have been restored: A. Markin’s and Lodyzhensky-Zagryazhsky-Rukavishnikov’s urban estates and a wing of the Morozov estate.
The main building of Alexander Markin's urban estate (7/1 Vadkovsky Lane) was erected in 1905. It was designed by architect Pyotr Kharko. During the work, which began in 2021, the original color scheme of the façades has been restored. Restoration artists had to pay special attention to the sophisticated spelter cornice (spelter is zinc and its alloys used in the 19th and the first 30 years of the 20th century as a replacement for bronze). On top of that, they have restored the cornices, pediment, window platbands, friezes, rusticated abutments and pilaster strips, hood molds, women’s mask relief moldings near the main entrances, and other ornaments on the façades. The brickwork has been carefully cleaned of old paint and plaster layers: there were as many as 17 of them in some places. Ornamental railings have been restored on the roof and rebuilt on the balconies and the terrace. The fence around the estate got a workover too: its foundation and brickwork have been strengthened, lost ornaments of the fence façades replicated, plaster and metal elements restored.
Lodyzhensky-Zagryazhsky-Rukavishnikov urban estate (3/2 Denezhny Lane) built in the late 18th century was reconstructed in 1911 by architect V. Drittenpreis. In 2022, the façade of the mansion was restored, painted and redecorated after the deformed plaster had been removed. The interiors have also been recreated: specialists have reconstructed decorative parquet flooring and plaster moldings, restored papier-mâché rosettes and Mettlach tiles in the eastern vestibule. In addition, the building structures have been reconstructed, and the building has been adapted for modern use.
The wing of the Morozov estate (17/2 Spiridonovka Street) and the main building were designed by architect Fyodor Schechtel. GlavUpDK has restored and painted the façades, cleaned and strengthened decorative elements, repaired metal canopies and porches, windows and doors. In addition, new architectural illumination of the main façade of the building has been arranged, and street lamps have been restored in a specialized workshop.
GlavUpDK manages more than 130 mansions mainly intended to accommodate diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organizations. Some of them are masterworks by renowned architects such as Fyodor Schechtel, Lev Kekushev, or William Walcot: breathtaking specimens of the Baroque Revival, Neoclassicism, Gothic Revival, eclecticism styles, as well as of the Russian Art Nouveau in its prime. GlavUpDK safeguards invaluable heritage sites and restores their original beauty while providing foreign diplomats with living and working conditions as befits their high status in Russia. This year, the Major Projects Department has completed seven mansions, four of them being cultural heritage sites.
GlavUpDK receives the Moscow Restoration awards for cultural heritage preservation almost each year. Since 2013, 17 mansions restored by the Company have been rewarded.
Award ceremony. Photo credit: Official Moscow Mayor website
