The concept of reconstruction of the Five Corners square will be finalized according to the wishes of Murmansk residents

The Regional Center for Urban Development has analyzed the wishes of Murmansk residents and will complement with them the concept of reconstruction of the central square of the city – Five Corners.

On December 10, in the conference hall of the business center "Arctic" in Murmansk, the architects of the St. Petersburg bureau of Needles presented a project and proposals for the improvement of the Five Corners Square, Samoilova and Vorovsky Streets to the citizens. Anyone could participate in the meeting. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the event was hybrid. You could listen to the presentation and express your opinion in person, as well as online, in a video conference on the Zoom platform. All proposals collected during the meeting have been taken into account and will form the basis of the revised concept.

"The first meetings took place in the spring of 2021. Then, together with the residents of Murmansk, we formed a public technical task for the participants of the international architectural competition for the improvement of the Five Corners Square, Samoilova and Vorovsky Streets. On December 10, after choosing the concept, we invited active Murmansk residents to continue the dialogue on how the center of Murmansk should develop," said the organizers of the meeting from the regional center for urban development.

The event was attended by local residents, business owners on the territory, local professional community, active citizens, representatives of public organizations and employees of nearby offices. There are 63 people in total.

The concept, which won the All-Russian Architectural Competition, was presented by architect Georgy Snezhkin. The organizers noted that the possible changes in the city center do not leave anyone from Murmansk indifferent. After the presentation and a block of clarifying questions and answers, the participants of the meeting worked in small groups, where the moderators recorded all the comments and comments in detail. Based on the results of the discussion, a report with recommendations for architects was formed. "A lot of comments were recorded both regarding individual parts and entire blocks of the concept. The concept is the author's vision for the development of the territory. The Concept document itself does not imply detailed miscalculations, they are being clarified at the next stages," representatives of the Urban Development Center stressed. Among the wishes expressed by the participants of the meeting: a request for visual communication and a clear linearity of the design concept from the monument to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the railway station; stylistic unity of the historical appearance of facades and natural areas around; changing the geometry of illumination; ordering advertising on the buildings surrounding the square and the elimination of a large advertising screen. An active discussion was caused by the construction project on the renovated area of the green area, a kind of "botanical park". In the concept, it is proposed to create a relief resembling hills, to supplement the existing lilac bushes with the planting of adult northern plants. Not all participants of the meeting supported the idea of creating such a park, fearing for the appearance of the green zone during the off-season, as well as for the behavior of dog breeders who can arrange a place for walking animals there. On the issue of closing the passage to the station along Vorovsky Street, mathematical calculations and discussions with network companies will also be additionally carried out. In addition, the authors will have to conduct a detailed analysis of parking spaces and propose options for the construction of new parking lots. Also, the participants of the meeting were asked to think over the ergonomics of space use. The protocol of the meeting included wishes: to add a relief for the possibility of a panoramic view of the square, to think over the functional content and options for leisure activities for children and adults. The need to think over routes and distribute rest points for people with limited mobility was also noted.

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On August 6, 2021, the winner of the international architectural competition for the improvement of the Five Corners Square, Samoilova and Vorovsky Streets was announced. The competition became part of the action plan for the comprehensive improvement of the administrative center of the Murmansk region - the hero city of Murmansk "Our Murmansk" until 2025. The jury of the competition included representatives of the authorities, as well as experts in the field of architecture, urban planning, integrated development of territories. Based on the comparison and evaluation of competitive projects, the jury members awarded the first place to the consortium of AB Needles + Dreamers united + THE VIEW lighting design bureau, St. Petersburg. The full version of the concept can be seen on the website http://fivecorners .gorod51.com/.