HM AMBASSADOR'S RESIDENCE IN MOSCOW

In 1988 the Practice won a limited competition set up by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for a new Residence for HM Ambassador in Moscow. The site was next to the US Ambassador's Residence in Spassopeskovskaya Square in the prestigious Arbat area of the city.

The design follows the detailed brief given by the FCO very closely, to provide a complex of accommodation for public receptions, the receiving of distinguished guests and the day-to-day living quarters for the Ambassador and his family, organised around a central hallway. The building is constructed in the Moscow vernacular of painted stucco over a brick structure and echoes the forms and details of the neighbouring buildings in a contemporary style. The interior is spacious and simple with extensive use of British materials - stone and timber - as well as furniture and other artefacts by British designers and craftsmen.

The project was abandoned in 1990. But Julian Bicknell and Associates were subsequently asked to work on the refurbishment of the present Residence on the Sophijskaya Embankment which is to house the Ambassador's official residence and a number of apartments for diplomatic staff.