GlavUpDK starts restoration of Schechtel’s mansion on Yermolaevsky Lane

Plans to restore Schechtel’s mansion on Yermolaevsky Lane.

GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia started a comprehensive science-based restoration of facades, rooftop and interior decorations while repurposing the mansion to modern use. The mansion is located at: 28/1 Yermolaevsky Lane, bldg. 1.

Mansion of F. Schechtel, 1896. Designed by F. Schechtel. The mansion is a federal cultural heritage site and the lane’s architectural dominant. The total floor space of the two-storey building is 692.8 sq.m.

At the moment we’re in the process of developing scientific design documents according to the requirements set by the Federal Act On Cultural Heritage Sites (Historical and Cultural Monuments) of the Peoples of the Russian Federation.

The planned operation includes: a comprehensive science-based restoration of the facade details, recreation of the mansion’s interior decor elements and original color palette, engineering systems upgrade, lighting system overhaul, courtyard rehabilitation, and setting up decorative lighting of the facade.

Architecture academician Fyodor Schechtel built the property as his own private residence in 1896. In 1904 the mansion got an addition: a pentagonal 2-storey residential space. The house ensemble is centered around a combination of various geometrical shapes. The facades are done in the late Victorian Gothic style, no more than hinting on the approaching Art Nouveau trends. The building has an intricate multi-level configuration with semicircular protruding structures. The ensemble is dominated by a gabled tower with a high triangular roof and a pediment.

After 1917 the former Schechtel’s mansion was divided into four apartments given to top Soviet government officials. One of them was Andrey Bubnov, RSFSR People’s Commissar for Education. The USSR People’s Commissariat, and later the Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed the building starting from 1944. From the 1950s and up until now, it has served as the Embassy of the Republic of Uruguay.