The Pakhouses on the Strelka are two 19th-century metal frame structures on Strelka Street, 21 (buildings Zh and I) in Kanavino, adapted into concert and exhibition halls and opened to the public in summer 2022[1][5]. The lattice-work trusses were built in 1882 for the Main Building of the XV All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow, and in 1896 were moved to Nizhny Novgorod for the XVI All-Russian Exhibition; for more than a century afterward they stood clad in brick as port warehouses[2][9]. The structures were discovered in 2015 during the city's preparations for the football World Cup, and after a dispute over demolition they were granted heritage status[4][7]. Today they are a rare case of exhibition-era metalwork from the turn of the 20th century adapted into a working cultural venue[3].

Metal from two exhibitions

The metal frames were designed by engineers Hermann Yegorovich Pauker and Ivan Alekseyevich Vyshnegradsky for the Main Building of the 1882 XV All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow, and manufactured at a St. Petersburg plant[1][2][3]. The structures are older than the Eiffel Tower[7].

When Nizhny Novgorod was preparing to host the 1896 XVI All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition, part of the Main Building's pavilions was moved from Moscow "for reasons of economy" and reassembled[1][3]. The exhibition, which became the empire's largest showcase and stood beside the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, was visited by Emperor Nicholas II[3].

After the exhibition closed, part of the Main Pavilion was bought and moved to the Siberian Wharf by the owners of the Nizhny Novgorod company "Nadezhda"[2]. The frames were clad in brick walls, roofed with slate, and turned into port warehouses; in this form the buildings stood for decades[1][2].

The 2015 discovery and the preservation dispute

The structures were discovered almost by accident in 2015, when the city began preparing for the football World Cup and dismantling the cargo port's buildings: beneath the brick cladding large lattice trusses were revealed[2][7]. Initially the pakhouses were slated for demolition along with the rest of the port structures[2].

On December 13, 2016, an application for the site's protection was filed with the regional government, and in late December the Nizhny Novgorod Region's cultural heritage protection authority placed the pakhouses on the state register as possessing the features of a cultural heritage site — under the name "Metal structures of the pavilions that were part of the Main Building of the 16th All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896"[4]. On December 30, 2016, activists launched a petition to the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, Sergei Kiriyenko; the urban-preservation movement "Spasgrad" also spoke out in favor of preserving the structures[4]. The day before, on December 29, the owner had begun dismantling one of the port cranes on the Strelka[4].

In 2017 the frames were freed from their brick walls and slate roofs, with the decision made to preserve the metal itself[1][2]. In 2018 the structures were granted the status of a regionally significant cultural heritage site — "metal structures of the pavilions of the Central Building of the All-Russian Exhibitions of 1882 and 1896"[3].

Restoration and layout

The adaptation concept was developed by the architectural bureau SPEECH under the direction of Sergei Choban; design work took place in 2019–2020, and construction in 2021–2022[3].

The solution consists of an independent glazed volume erected inside each historic frame, set back 1,800 mm from the old trusses along the perimeter, so that the historic structure remains visible both outside and inside[3]. The ridge of the historic trusses rises to 16.57 m, the ridge of the new roof to 13.3 m; the total area of the two buildings is 3,338.15 sq. m, of which building Zh accounts for 1,745.5 sq. m and building I for 1,592.6 sq. m[3].

In summer 2020, emergency stabilization work was carried out at the site — treating the structures against corrosion and conserving them[6]. In December 2020, the restoration's client, the ANO "Center 800", announced a call for proposals for site-preservation work with a starting contract price of 660 million rubles; the design documentation was valued at 32.4 million rubles[6].

Concert and exhibition halls

The concert hall in building Zh opened on June 2, 2022; the opening was announced by Governor Gleb Nikitin[5]. Behind the stage is a panoramic glass wall with a view of the Strelka) and the city; the acoustics of the hall were handled by the company "Acoustic Group"[5]. The first to perform on the new stage was the musicAeterna orchestra under the direction of Teodor Currentzis[5]. Sources give different figures for the hall's capacity: 426 seats[2][6][7], while the center's official website gives 430[1].

The exhibition hall in building I opened that same summer of 2022[1][2]. The concert venue is operated by the Pushkin Nizhny Novgorod State Opera and Ballet Theatre, and the exhibition venue by the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum[1].

In its first six months of operation, the Pakhouses hosted more than twenty concerts and exhibitions, drawing over 41,500 residents and visitors as spectators[8]. The halls are open Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 to 21:00[7]. The project was awarded a silver diploma at the international "Zodchestvo" festival[2].

See also

Fair Packhouses on the Strelka)

Sources

  1. packhouses.strelkapark.ru — Pakhouses — Official website of the "Pakhouses" cultural center
  2. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — How the pakhouses on the Strelka were revived and became a point of attraction (archive)
  3. archrevue.ru — Architectural Herald — The Pakhouses of Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  4. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — NTA-Privolzhye — The pakhouses on the Nizhny Novgorod Strelka placed on the state register as possessing the features of cultural heritage sites (archive)
  5. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — A concert hall has opened in the Pakhouses on the Strelka in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  6. redeveloper.ru — The Pakhouses on the Strelka, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (archive)
  7. nn-tourist.ru — Tourist Portal of Nizhny Novgorod Region — The Pakhouses (archive)
  8. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — More than 41,500 people visited concerts and exhibitions at the "Pakhouses" cultural center (archive)
  9. GiperNN — GiperNN — From port to park: 10 reasons not to recognize the Strelka in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)