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Development of a residential area in Kramatorsk

type:Housing, urban design

location: Kramatorsk, Ukraine
year: 2021
status: Concept

size: 23,95 ha, 1st stage - 4,3 ha, 40 000 sq.m
authors: Sofia Bondar, Yevgen Borysenko, Ihor Grygoriv, Volodymyr Obukhov, Anton Oliynyk, Oleksii Pakhomov, Olha Valkova, Anna Viken

The construction site is located near the northeastern border of Kramatorsk. In this place, Soviet plans provided for the extension of Lazurny microdistrict, which explains the location of 4 residential buildings and 2 unfinished buildings in the center on the north side of the site. When the Soviet system collapsed, the project was halted, the houses built for more than 30 years without the surroundings and the necessary infrastructure. This area was named Chechnya after the war in the Chechen Republic that was unfolding during the settlement of the district and also due to humanitarian and social problems resulting from the military conflict. The spatial context of the site is very diverse: there are private houses  and the existing neighborhood, there are fields in the east, used for growing crops, and a landscape park with unique chalk mountains nearby.

In early 2021, the BURØ team was invited to develop a concept for the development of the territory. The goal of the project was formed by the city, which is the creation of modern housing to address the social challenges associated with the outflow of population and the reluctance of young professionals to move to the city.

 Therefore, the primary requirement was a high economic efficiency and affordability of new housing, which will be the key to creating a new community consisting of the diverse population.

Future streets are formed by continuing the existing ones, related to the construction site, and as a reaction to the existing footpaths. Low- and medium-rise buildings on the one hand due to economic considerations on the other hand are integrated into the context and are an organic combination of 9-storey neighborhood and private 1-2 storeys buildings. The project is aimed at a clear division of spaces into public (streets and boulevards), collective (courtyards) and private (terraces and spaces inside the house), which is traditional for historic cities and creates problems for the maintenance of Soviet neighborhoods. Clear demarcation gives an understanding of responsibility, and divides the space into:mine, ours, everybody’s. This approach encourages the creation of local communities that will be interested in high-quality care and safety.