Dobrolyubova 17 Business Centre, St Petersburg

Dobrolyubova 17, Building C, is a business centre in St Petersburg completed in 2013 through the redevelopment of an industrial building dating from 1962. Because it forms part of an established historic block on the Petrograd Side, ArKo—the architectural studio of Mikhail Kopkov—faced the complex task of integrating a new facade into the surrounding cityscape. Natural Jura Limestone, bay windows and carved details give the office building the character of pre-revolutionary architecture and extend the sequence of historic elevations along Dobrolyubova Prospekt. The marbled limestone sits harmoniously above a high granite plinth, a combination widely used in the former imperial capital.