RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FORMER HOUSE OF YU. K. DOBBERT

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FORMER HOUSE OF YU. K. DOBBERT

Russia, St. Petersburg, 14A Bolshaya Pushkarskaya Street
Start of design: 2011
End of construction: 2015
Client: Committee for Construction, St. Petersburg City Government

Authors of the project:

Architects: G. V. Ivanov, E. S. Fedorova

Architectural Restorers: A. A. Karaseva, S. V. Morozova, E. G. Sorokina, E. P. Minova, Yu. N. Komarova, G. F. Tsygankova

Structural Engineers: I. N. Lyashko, L. V. Shvalova, S. S. Bogdanov

General Contractor: OOO PSB ZhilStroy

The house of Yu. K. Dobbert (1896, architect A. Ya. Reinberg) is a rare example of a wooden mansion surviving amidst a multi-storied stone-built neighbourhood in St. Petersburg. In 2011, the mansion was given over to B. Eifman Dance Academy. Restoration work resulted in complete preservation of the building’s outer look and all its features typical for Late Eclecticism, Romanticism, and Neo-Gothic style. Having cleared the layers of paint off the facade, restorers reconstructed the lost elements of wooden wall facing, cornices, and carved and wrought-iron ornaments. The wooden structural carcass was also preserved, only a small part replaced due to rot.

The restoration of the interior design yielded several finds. One of the walls hid a lift for sending plates from the kitchen to the dining room. Lincrusta wallpaper fragments proved to be the most exciting discovery. The restorers developed a special technology of imitating the effect through multilayered stenciled print on canvas combined with hand-painting.

The restored building will house a museum exhibition of ballet history in St. Petersburg.

Gross floor area: 481 sq.m

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