Well-Planned Adventures

Russia has countless places worth visiting, yet still lacks adequate infrastructure. Much the same as with public spaces in the 2010s, we need to develop new formats and achieve next levels of comfort. We approach travels as significant, memorable life events—adventures that require proper planning. This is precisely what we do: we envisage ways to set up life at resorts, in cities, in cultural centres, and we devise scenarios. Conversely, we plan any kind of architecture as a journey.

In hotel design, our priority is a functionally diverse environment enabling a variety of leisure scenarios, from quiet strolls to active recreation. We bear in mind, however, that a hotel complex is a sophisticated, high-tech mechanism requiring economic viability: it involves efficient planning, optimal operational cost structures, and a calculated balance of paid and complimentary services. This approach informed the hotels in Sochi and Tula, the eco-hotel in Istra outside Moscow as well as the Ship Grove resort in Nizhnekamsk and Pine Forest resort in Kemerovo.

Tourism masterplans require an equally flexible and analytical approach. Their objective is to attract both people and investments. Local residents also benefit from revitalisation initiatives. Tula’s development strategy transformed the city into a popular destination, complete with a new Wowhaus-designed riverfront area and pedestrian streets in the historical centre. The increasing number of visitors resulted in new hotels, restaurants, shops, and booths.

The tourism masterplan of Tobolsk targets not only visitors, but also the local residents, many of whom work at ZapSibNeftekhim, a Sibur enterprise. The Siberian town is supposed to become a major regional attraction—a metamorphosis that would be brought about by phased comprehensive transformations and a series of targeted interventions. We have reinvented the city brand, mapped additional routes and connections, and designed new public spaces in the lower city, including a waterfront and an Experience Centre. Renovated historic buildings there will house an exhibition complex and a Wowhaus-designed Technology Centre.

Masterplanning often impacts the way a city or district is perceived. The tourism development programme created by our practice for territories around Lake Kezenoy-Am in Chechnya and Dzheyrakh Gorge in Ingushetia will alter both regions’ positioning on a national scale. New tourism infrastructure, routes, and hotels will make natural and cultural attractions more accessible and popular among travellers from other regions.

The New Anapa beach resort allowed Wowhaus to conceive a new tourist destination from scratch, offering an opportunity to reinvent an established resort brand. Working alongside sociologists, economists, trend spotters, and fellow architects and engineers from Mosinzhproekt civil engineering company, we developed tourism scenarios, identity, and architecture for a year-round vacation spot.