The Kazan embankment by the Tula Kremlin was a closed industrial zone for several centuries which has practically turned into an abandoned territory, a black hole in the very heart of the city. In 2018, as a result of renovation, the historical part of Tula is set to turn into a cultural centre interesting for residents and tourists.

Objective

To revitalise the historical part of the city: to use the potential of the embankment as much as possible and find key functions for the city centre surrounding it in order to significantly increase the quality of the urban environment. Propose simple, but fundamentally new scenarios for the residents thanks to which 15 hectares of land will transform from a poorly organized territory into a welcoming public space

Solution

In order to understand how a territory three times as big as the Tula Kremlin functions, it is necessary to revise the strategy of its use. The long embankment cannot exist separately to the rest of the city: the walking route along the former river-bed of the Upa river becomes a part of the new system of pedestrian areas with several semantic centres - a museum quarter, a pedestrian street with shops and cafes and also the Kremlin territory which is becoming more accessible due to a new entrance

Reconstruction project

Park near the Kremlin walls

The territory of the embankment with a total area of 12 hectares was used by the Tula arms factory for a long time and was closed for residents. Now it is back to the fabric of the city.
The new life of the embankment had been started with cleaning and filling the former river-bed with water, cleaning the territory from weeds and chaotically built maintenance buildings. A landscape park is designed on the bank of the Upa river with easy access to the water and pedestrian bridges. Walking zones, a cafe, a summer stage, children's and sports areas is located between the river and the Kremlin wall. The new embankment became a recreational zone of a city-wide significance, a place for fun, walking, city-wide events and seasonal fairs. The embankment has finally opened another entry to the Tula Kremlin.

Krestovozdvizhenskaya square - a pedestrian area

The square became a self-sufficient centre of attraction for residents and visitors of the city, a sort of open foyer of the museum complex of the Tula Kremlin and the museum quarter on Metallistov street. The entrance to the Kremlin from the side of the square is restored and equipped for people with disabilities so as to meet all modern requirements.

New look of Metallistov Street

Metallistov Street, the former Pyatnitskaya Street, is one of the oldest streets in the city. In the XVIII century it was among the first streets to be paved, but today it is not in the best condition and ended up on the periphery of urban events.

Now the entire street is pedestrian with the possibility of passing special-purpose motor vehicles. All dilapidated communications are renewed to create conditions for the existence of the future museum quarter.

The street is filled with a large number of architectural monuments of the XIXth century. They are now being restored and the street, along with the Tula Kremlin, became an important symbol of the city and a new tourist and recreational city centre

Reducing transport load

In order to open the central part of the city for residents, the transport scheme are changed: the traffic streams from the Metallistov street are redirected to nearby streets. This decision is justified by a research which showed that the amount of traffic in the city centre will be decreasing in the coming years due to a new bridge

Transforming the museum quarter

The museum quarter is one of the most interesting points of the renovated centre. Representatives of the Tula region museums will form the base of the quarter. The ground floors of the other buildings were supposed to be occupied by shops and cafes, educational facilities, hotels and offices above.

Now cultural institutions are finishing with construction, but before that inner spaces and courtyards were improved, these are places for children activities, additional exhibitions and special events. Do the reconstruction of the main streets in the quarter caused some local initiatives and projects that make the city vibrant