The new district project supports the idea of creating a 'Green River' on the city map — a chain of natural spaces stretching continuously from the North to the South of Moscow. The Green River and the main waterway of Moscow — Moscow River — intersect in the center of the city, and the ZIL Peninsula is located at the intersection.

A framework of public spaces became the city planning foundation for the new territory. The framework’s elements include parks, boulevards, streets and squares, city roads, river transport, pedestrian and cycle paths, cultural and education institutions. The functional zoning concept revives the 1930s concept: the creation of a green 'city within a city' on the ZIL plant territory, initially developed by Vesnins brothers.

ZIL Peninsula masterplan stipulates the division of the site into three parts — the central boulevard zone, the residential zone by the river and the main park.

Vesnins Brothers boulevard is a linear center consisting of a number of public spaces. All of the district’s iconic objects are located on the boulevard: museum, as well as a concert hall, theaters, academic and children theatres, department stores and a hotel. The street follows the route of the boulevard designed by the Vesnins.
 
Constructions were proposed to be primarily of average height, with dominants in the form of several high-rise buildings. The boulevard’s composition is emphasized by a system of dominants: five towers, with the main one (150m high) standing at the entrance to the territory of the new district. The towers of the business center and the hotel flank the highway, creating a 'ZIL Gate'.

The residential zone, consisting of blocks with a height of no more than 16 floors, features the maximum possible diversity in terms of types of building and apartment. The streets in the residential development connect the main park with the embankment via the green boulevard.

The main park of ZIL Peninsula, named 'Tyufeleva Roshcha' (Tyufelev Grove) in memory of the historic grove that existed here before the appearance of the automobile plant, mitigates the influence of the railway on the residential environment. A pedestrian path passes through Tyufeleva Roshcha from the Technopark transport hub to the residential buildings, parallel to the main boulevard. The project for the main park was developed by the Dutch bureau !melk.

The concept for the landscaping of the ZIL Peninsula territory was developed with emphasis on conserving existing trees and planting new ones. Lighted pedestrian and bicycle routes link all of the green areas, both large and small, into a single eco system.

The residential districts are oriented towards a green public space along the Moscow River — Marc Chagall embankment. All of the streets leading from the boulevard to the park on the embankment feature small squares with panoramic views of the river. 

The former industrial area of ​​AMO ZIL provides a unique opportunity to create a project in Moscow with a priority of public interests. The key component of the new district’s master plan is the design code for architects and developers, developed in 2015. The design code of the ZIL peninsula includes architectural and urban planning principles for working with the environment.

The territory of the district is divided into lots — building plots, the function and type of building are determined for each lot. Regulations include rules regarding the height of buildings, road profiles, noise control, and the location of entrances to buildings. The regulations for building facades and insolation gaps were determined.

The design code fixed the system of small squares and the functional street-level zoning scheme for the development on the plan of the district. The 'open quarter' rule introduced by the design code entails the opening of all residential quarters to the river and planting of greenery, as well as the visual unification of the green spaces of pedestrian streets and courtyards. The function and type of building were determined individually for each site for which design was performed.

In 2017 Meganom developed the 'ZIL-Land' project, in which the landscaping of the entire area was designed to the smallest detail, and a project was prepared for the planting of greenery on the territory, including selection of plant species.

The functions of the first floors determine the nature of landscaping of pedestrian streets. If there are retail objects and offices on the street, landscaping allows pedestrians to see the windows. If kindergartens or other children facilities are located on the street, the landscaping typology allows to hide windows from the eyes of those who passes by.

The architects of the buildings in the residential district on the territory of the former industrial zone of the ZIL plant are: Bureau Alexander Brodsky, Sergey Skuratov Architects, Tsimailo Lyashenko & Partners, Speech, Neutelings Riedijk, Utkin Studio, DNA Architectural Group, Alexey Kozyr architectural studio, Anton Barklyansky, Sergey Kiselev and Partners, Breath Architects, DROM, Svesmi, Mossine Partners, Wowhaus, buromoscow, MLA+, Nowadays, Kleinewelt Architekten, Wall, Fas(t), Kontora.

Most of the old plant buildings were demolished in 2015 before construction of the first stage began. In accordance with the design code of 2015, the town-planning structure of the 1930s ZIL district is preserved as well as a certain part of the historical structures. Alexander Brodsky designed a children's educational center with terraces at the fire station. However, the building was later demolished and therefore the project will not be implemented.

---

LOCATION Moscow, Avtozavodskaya St., 22

CLIENT LSR Group

STATUS under construction

PROGRAM masterplan

AREA site — 271,25 ha; ZIL-North — 136,8 ha; building development — 2 551 230 sq. m

PROJECT TEAM

Partners in charge: Y. Grigoryan, I. Kulehsov

Competition concept: E. Uglovskaya, D. Apalkova, R. Arakelyan, Y. Kuznetsov

Head architect: A. Koptelova

Architects: A. Belinskaya, G. Daynov, S. Gelain, A. Egarmina, S. Rastorguev, I. Shmeleva