SWA/Balsley：Prominently located at the front door of Moscow’s historic train station, the new Paveletskaya Plaza is poised to become the city’s next great urban park and public attraction. The innovative design collaboration by SWA/Balsley and 5+design won an invited international competition with a harmonious fusion of urban park with below-grade retail creating a new civic destination that will spark the public’s landscape imagination of 21st century city life in downtown Moscow.

When built in 1900 by Russian architect Alexander Krasovsky, the historic Paveletsky railway station fulfilled a grand vision of connecting Russia’s Pavelets, or surrounding suburbs, to Moscow. It welcomed travelers into ornate interior concourses and a grand hall, and faced onto a garden square situated directly in front of the station. Over time, a new road bifurcated the park and siloed the iconic station from its surroundings. The design reestablishes this lost connection between the historic station and the ring road. Working within strict height limitations and view corridor regulations, the carefully sculpted park grades ensure a visual balance between the station and the iconic retail entrances. In addition, vehicular access on the northwest road will be limited, which will reclaim the pedestrian connection between the station and the plaza.

This remarkable park space features two iconic retail pavilion entrances that seem to emerge from the carefully sculpted parkscape; blurring the lines between public life at the central plaza and retail below. Open views from the street are preserved with sculpted landscape and lawn “shelves” that softly descend to a plaza teeming with urban life, restaurants, retail entrances, and activity throughout the seasons. The lawn terraces and their companion sculptural overlooks provide a wide range of opportunities for viewing casual daily activity or events.