Studying the history of construction of the business center on Avenue Masherova, you realize: there are still enchanted places in Minsk. More than ten years the city couldn`t decide the destiny of that ‘spot’. But, as it seems the problem is solved…

     On the place of future business center, a summer café ‘Rechenka’ had been standing for many years, where students with little money were able to buy food and drink. Then, in the 90s, after a series of well-known political events, a city decided to change the image of this place and announced a tender for its reconstruction. The winning investors then decided to reconstruct ‘Rechenka’ into Indian restaurant. Architect Olga Barisavna Ladigina, chief of the bureau in ‘Belgosproekt’, started working on architectural project. But everything went wrong from the beginning – plans were being altered without realization, and ‘Rechenka’ had turned into a never finished object, a thorn in the eye on one of main city avenues.

      Tne of the problems was a metro line passing just a few meters away from the restaurant. Proximity of the underground communications didn`t allow the builders to use existing foundations for raising object with bigger volume. Because of all that, decision was made to pull it down and start construction works over again.

      Two and a half years ago company ‘Rubiroz international’ (at this moment they are building second stage of center ‘Europe’ and reconstructing market ‘Riga’) won tender which allows it to build its own complex in that place. It was supposed to be a modern and comfortable business center.

      Architectural project was developed by ‘Tvorcheskaya masterskaya – 7’. In 2003, Minsk town planning council approved it. 

    It seemed, nothing was interrupting the start of building process, however in the last moment situation is changing again, and the officials from Ministry of culture are joining the discussion. They insist that future building is standing inside the borders of protected area and this means that special approach is needed. One question appears: what kind of approach? Directly in this place city built metro line (and all the work was done in open air) and this means that culture layer had been lost even then. If we speak of height limitation, then next problem turns up: what neighbouring buildings should we look at (on one side of future business center is 5-story building, on the other – 12-story). But this is not the end of problems: Ministry of culture has categorically forbidden car park in the back of the business center, which is absolutely necessary for such densely inhabited district. Motive is the same – in that place was center of ‘Zamchishe’. However, today there is not a single trace of it (time ruined everything from the outside, and construction of metro-line – from the inside).

    And while the officials are touched by the ancient settlement of Belarusians, today`s citizens who visit this part of Avenue Masherava are forced to settle on the car park with no more than 150 places.

    The project suggested by architects solves all esthetical problems and remarkably points out the perspective of avenue – 16-story building, placed in front of first 13-story high-rise, is remarkably placed with 16-story building of Home of Unions, closing the line of 13-story buildings. In this manner, composition is not broken.