Tsvetnoy Central Market, Moscow Department Store, Russian Shop Building, Architect, Image

Tsvetnoy Central Market Moscow : Russian Department Store

New Retail Building Russia design by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, Architects (LDS)

6 + 10 Jul 2011

Tsvetnoy Central Market

Design: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, UK

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands creates landmark luxury food destination in Moscow for Russian department store

Tsvetnoy Central Market photos : Chris Gascoigne

International architecture studio Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has completed a luxury food retail and restaurant space at Tsvetnoy Central Market, Moscow, to rival leading international retail stores. Located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and adjacent to Old Moscow Circus, the 3,930 m² (42,300 sqft) scheme at the new high-end department store features striking, beaten stainless steel interiors.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ design for developer RGI International is the practice‘s second collaborative project in Europe with specialist consultants Ford McDonald, having previously completed the acclaimed La Rinascente food hall in Milan. It draws on the practice‘s expertise in luxury food retail schemes, including a 10 year collaboration with Harvey Nichols involving its stores in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, as well as the landmark restaurant at London‘s OXO Tower Wharf.

Paul Sandilands, Director at Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, said, “Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ design for the food emporium at Tsvetnoy Central Market echos the site‘s rich history as the location of Moscow‘s famous 19th century flower market. With our previous experience in retail and hospitality design, we created a reflective stainless steel interior to capture the colour, buzz and activity in the space. This creates a sense of drama, which shimmers down to the lower retail levels, drawing visitors up through the building. Tsvetnoy Central Market is set to become Moscow‘s ultimate food destination.”

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ scheme occupies the upper floors of the seven storey department store and is centred around a 1,700m² (18,300sq.ft) delicatessen food hall. Located above, a large-scale mezzanine level houses a 16m long bar, two private dining restaurants and destination outdoor terraces with stunning views across the Moscow skyline.

With floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has harnessed full design control over the only ‘editable‘ plane within the space – the ceiling – to create a strong identity for the building. The suspended internal ceiling is comprised of 2,600 components made from highly-polished beaten stainless steel.

This technically innovative feature addresses the common issue of underperformance on the upper floors of department stores, by creating a lively and colourful destination at the top to entice customers upwards through the building.

Visible from the ground floor entrance of the department store through a large full-height atrium, the ceiling provides visitors with a glimpse of the colourful produce and activities within the 7m high food hall above. Sitting inside the external envelope, the reflective surfaces wrap and unify the two food retail floors, creating movement through abstract shifting patterns of colour, which make reference to the site‘s history as a flower marketplace as well as the architectural innovation and geometry of the new building, designed by Moscow-based architectural studio Project Meganom.

Hugely impressed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ stainless steel design, the client also drew the surface down to the lower levels of the department store, including the entrance and central atrium spaces. This mirrored edging unifies the retail floors, driving footfall and sales throughout the store.

Mahipat Singh at Tsvetnoy Central Market said, “We are very excited by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ work at Tsvetnoy Central Market, which provides the store with a unique visual identity and atmosphere. I am certain that the market will become an integral part of our customers‘ lifestyles as it has revolutionised food shopping in the city, embodying the modern spirit of Moscow. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ expertise has been a crucial element in establishing Tsvetnoy Central Market as a rival to the world‘s leading department stores in New York, London, Paris, Milan and Hong Kong.”

The food hall is flanked by six over-the-counter fresh food concessions, including a European delicatessen, a bakery and patisserie, an Asian sushi bar, fish and poultry counters, and a wine shop. The market also retails a wide range of goods including fresh fruits and vegetables, dry groceries, frozen food and flowers.

To ensure that the acoustics from the busy market hall would not reverberate into the open private dining areas above, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands worked with acoustic consultant, Cole Jarman. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has used feature ceilings on a number of retail schemes as a device to entice customers store wide.

This approach was applied to the highly successful restaurant, bar and brasserie for Harvey Nichols at Oxo Tower Wharf, London, which features a cantilevered aerofoil roof with rotating coloured louvre blades that swivel to allow light and acoustic variations. At the La Rinascente food hall in Milan, the practice designed a glowing three-dimensional ceiling, which unified the food concessions and restaurants on the top floor of the historic department store.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands‘ architectural approach to the client‘s brief, utilising space, light and technology to its maximum as opposed to an interior design solution, has resulted in a sophisticated and accessible experience for visitors to Tsvetnoy Central Market. Tsvetnoy Central Market is now open at 15 Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Moscow, Russia.

Tsvetnoy Central Market Project Team

Architect: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Client: RGI International
Food Consultant: Ford McDonald Consultancy
Acoustic Consultant: Cole Jarman
Ceiling Contractor: Lindner Group
Ceiling Panel Fabricator: EXYD
Shop Fitting Contractor: Schweitzer Project
M&E Engineer: Zvi Ronen

Tsvetnoy Central Market Moscow

Tsvetnoy Central Market (Tsvetnoy) is a new retail development in the centre of Moscow; 2km north of the Kremlin. Located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard between two of the city‘s famous ring roads — the Boulevard and the Garden Ring – the modern retail building is adjacent to Old Moscow Circus, one of the oldest circuses in Russia, and Tsvetnoy Bulvar metro station.

Tsvetnoy uses the concession model that has been successfully applied worldwide, offering a varied shopping experience with international brands from the middle market to high-end fashion, as well as a food hall, fresh market, cafés, bars and restaurants. Tsvetnoy covers a total internal area of 36,527m2 (393,173sq.ft) over seven retail floors, including two floors that are dedicated to the food market, cafe and restaurants. The building also includes three underground parking floors with 387 parking spaces.

Tsvetnoy Central Market Moscow images / information from Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Previously:

11 May 2010

Moscow Department Store

Architects : Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and food consultant Ford McDonald have designed a 50,000 sqft fit-out in a new department store on Moscow’s Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The team is providing three floors of food retail and restaurant space, including a spectacular destination rooftop café.

The commission is a further foray into Europe for Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Ford Macdonald. The team behind the acclaimed La Rinescente food hall, remodelled as part of the overhaul of Milan’s retail institution, made their names working together at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, Manchester and Edinburgh, and London’s landmark OXO Tower.

Currently under construction, this Moscow department store will represent developer RGI International’s sixth completed project in the Russian capital. The client brief called for a sophisticated and affordable food and dining experience, reflecting the market origins of the site.

Tsvetnoy Central Market images : Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

The practice responded with an internal ceiling and wall lining of beaten stainless steel responding to the form of the building and wrapping the two levels. The highly polished surfaces creates reflections of the produce and activity below, and projects light from the deep windows over Tsvetnoy Boulevard and skylight on the top floor.

Visible through the Tsvetnoy Central Market atrium from the main entrance on the ground floor, the lining relates directly to the exterior of the building, provides a distinct feeling to the food offer and entices shoppers to be drawn upwards through the building as they enter.

The fifth floor retail spaces have a bustling, vibrant market feel. Bespoke wooden cabinetry displays ‘fields of colour’ provided by fresh produce, reflected in the polished ceiling as constantly shifting patterns, and referencing the site’s history as a flower marketplace.

A terrace restaurant and event space on the sixth floor will provide breathtaking views across the Moscow skyline.

Paul Sandilands said: “We wanted to work with the external structure and highlight its dramatic form. The lining expresses the shape, wrapping the structure and disappearing up into the skylight.”