Moscow
Philip Kassanis as associate director at Mountford Pigott
2003-4
The rapid growth in the Russian economy (particularly Moscow) brought a massive expansion in movement of goods, and traffic volumes creating a substantial demand for western standard distribution warehousing. Working for a UK investment developer this 97 Ha masterplan was designed for what was set to be the first major Logistics Park in Moscow.
The site is both sides of one of the main radial routes into Moscow and situated just south of the major ring road (the MKAD). It requires its own intersection to be created from the motorway. As well as this the masterplanning was particularly complicated because of severely challenging topography; a terrain that was criss-crossed by overhead power lines and major city scale gas mains underground; rail access from an adjoining railway; and the fact that there was no comparable product in Russia at the time.
The masterplan successfully delivered a viable scheme that only foundered because of intrigue and politics. Such was the success that when a new opportunity for a 235Ha scheme in north Moscow came about, there was no hesitation in re-employing the same team.
