All important information about Stalin-era buildings.

What is it?

Stalin-era buildings or Stalinist houses are residential buildings erected during the reign of Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Stalin). The heyday of architecture was in the 1930s-1950s.

Buildings in the so-called “Stalinist Empire” style are especially popular: they are distinguished by bright, memorable decorative elements and a monumental appearance.

The most notable of them are the “seven sisters” – Stalinist skyscrapers erected in the center of Moscow in 1947-1957. The list includes the main building of Moscow State University, the Ukraine and Leningradskaya hotels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and residential buildings: all of them are distinguished by their multi-story buildings and are crowned with a notable spire.

We will discuss how Stalin-era buildings differ from buildings of other periods in the next section.

Features

Characteristics of Stalin-era buildings:

• High ceilings. The average distance from floor to ceiling is 3 m.
• Large areas. Apartments occupied 50-100 m2. At the same time, kitchens could occupy up to 15 square meters.
• Brickwork. Pre-war buildings were built from red, post-war buildings from white.
• Large windows. They reach 2 m in height, unlike Khrushchev’s 1520 mm.
• Excellent quality of work and building materials. Thanks to which Stalin-era buildings are still in excellent condition.
• Convenient layouts. As a standard, all rooms are isolated from each other, there are no walk-through rooms.
• Low sound transmission capacity. Unlike modern panel buildings.
• Separate bathrooms. Which in practice is much more convenient than combined ones.

And most importantly, Stalin-era buildings are located in the historical central areas of cities, where it is prestigious to live to this day.

Types of buildings

Stalin-era buildings were built before and after the Great Patriotic War. The difference between the two “eras” is primarily structural: in the late 1940s, reinforced concrete began to be used instead of wooden floors. The houses were supposed to look as majestic as possible, to demonstrate the power of the Soviet Union.

Even a cursory glance at the pre-war buildings reveals a decor thought out to the smallest detail: the houses were built to decorate the streets, there was no hurry and no savings on decorations. After the war, the task was different: to provide housing to the maximum number of people left homeless in the shortest possible time. There was no time to think about decor, so the houses turned out to be less beautiful, but cheaper and more rational.

In addition to the time of construction, the buildings differed in their purpose:

• Nomenklatura. Elite residential complexes built for the top of the Soviet government still adorn the main streets of Moscow and other cities. Inside the beautiful buildings were no less beautiful apartments: spacious (3-4 rooms), with high ceilings decorated with stucco, with wide staircases, wrought iron railings.

• Standard. Intended for ordinary Soviet citizens. The layouts were more modest – 1-2 rooms or corridor type (communal apartments). Secondly, bathrooms were shared between several apartments or the entire floor.

Layouts and sizes

Typical Stalinist buildings are mainly represented by three series:

• 1-255. Low-rise 2-3-story Stalinist buildings. 3-meter ceilings, half-meter thick walls, apartments from 1 to 3 rooms. Area 29-75 square meters.
• 1-433. 4-storey buildings, ceilings up to 4 m, walls up to 50 cm. The area of a one-room apartment is 36 sq. m., a two-room apartment is 56-72 sq. m., a three-room apartment is 75-83.
• 1-411. 4-5-storey Stalin-era buildings, ceilings 320 cm, walls about half a meter thick. Areas 42-82 sq.m.

There are also series II- (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 08, 14). Years of construction: 1952-1964. Number of storeys – 3-8. High-rise buildings (up to 10) in the SM-1, 3, 6 series deserve special attention.

There were usually 2-3 apartments on the landings. There were fewer one-room apartments than 2-3-room apartments.

In the nomenklatura houses on the central streets, apartments are usually 4-room (less often three-room), 2 per floor. The area is about 85-90 square meters, separate bathroom, ceilings 3-4 meters.

What to consider when redeveloping?

Today, Stalin-era buildings are valued not only for the height of their ceilings and the thickness of their walls, but also for the possibility of redevelopment. Moreover, we are talking about post-war buildings with reinforced concrete floors; if the apartment is in a pre-war building and the floors are wooden, it will be difficult and expensive to approve a new plan. The fact is that the floors may not be load-bearing, but unloading: this means that they will have to be additionally reinforced. But if you want, it is quite possible to do this!

As for reinforced concrete structures, most interior partitions are not load-bearing and it is much easier to approve their reconstruction.

Another nuance that should be taken into account is ventilation and chimneys. In Stalin-era buildings, they can be located in completely unexpected places, and it is strictly prohibited to reconstruct these common house structures. Therefore, if during dismantling it turns out that there is a shaft hidden inside the wall, you will have to build the wall again.

The third important point is the type of stove. In the case of connected gas, it is strictly prohibited to combine the kitchen with any living space, or dismantled doors and walls will have to be replaced with blind partitions.

The latter applies to owners whose apartments are located in buildings listed as architectural monuments. In this case, any internal changes will have to be approved not only by the Housing Inspectorate, but also by a special body. In Moscow, for example, this issue is handled by Moskomnasledie.

What should be taken into account during renovation?

Since the youngest stalinka buildings are about 60 years old today, the first thing that should be done in the old building after complete dismantling is replacing the wiring and communications (water supply, sewerage).

Important! Dismantling involves removing a huge amount of waste (from a ton or more), so a removal and disposal point should be included in the repair budget.

Then, if redevelopment is necessary, new partitions are erected. The next stage is the floor. In old Stalin-era buildings with wooden floors, a lightweight screed is made with logs, expanded clay, and gypsum fiber boards. On reinforced concrete buildings, the screed can be standard.

After removing the old plaster, the walls are checked for strength: if necessary, the lath is updated, and the brickwork is patched. Plastering must be done using benchmarks, since the walls often have irregular geometry. In some cases, the brick is left “bare” – especially if it authentically fits into the desired interior style.

If desired, the ceiling can be left authentic – with moldings and other decorations, or cleaned to the base and replaced with a more modern suspended or suspended one. Or level it, prepare it for painting.

When the rough work on dismantling and preparing the surfaces is completed, move on to the finishing: first, the ceiling is done, then the walls. Lastly, the flooring is laid.

What is the difference between a Khrushchev-era building and a Brezhnev-era building?

To understand the stages of construction, you should recall the history course. Stalin was at the helm of Soviet power from 1924 to 1953, he was replaced by Khrushchev (1953-1964), Brezhnev ruled from 1964 to 1982. Accordingly, houses named after the leaders were built around the time of their rule (however, Stalin-era buildings were built until 1964).

The most obvious way to compare architecture is with a table:

Area of apartments

Up to 4 m

Examples of stylish apartments

Thanks to its distinctive characteristics, creating a stylish interior in a Stalin-era building is not particularly difficult. We will see this now by studying a selection of design projects.

Loft-style apartment

An excellent example of arranging an apartment for a young family in a Stalin-era building from 1958 by designer Maxim Tikhonov. As a result of the redevelopment, a spacious kitchen-living room was made. The wardrobe area was separated with a blue curtain.

As an accent and to emphasize the historical past of the apartment, they decided to leave the brickwork in the kitchen, which harmonizes perfectly with the dark facades of the furniture. The bedroom has a fully-fledged workspace and a convenient dressing room.

Bright two-room apartment

Another example of a stylish transformation of a two-room apartment in a Stalin-era building. Interior designer Olga Zaretskikh created a truly cozy and functional interior for her family. The stylish hog-shaped tiles fit perfectly into the kitchen, combining with the corner furniture with glass doors.

They decided to separate the living room from the hallway and place an old sewing machine in it as a highlight. The bedroom is done in light green tones with an original decor at the head of the bed, which the owners brought from Cameroon.

Two-level studio

On such a small area of 24 square meters, the author of the project Tatyana Shishkina arranged a full-fledged bedroom with a work place and a cozy living room. The black color in the project looks more stylish and harmonious than ever. Thanks to its high ceilings, this studio allows one person to live in it comfortably.

And a few room tours:

Of course, Stalin-era buildings have some drawbacks: for example, the high price of this type of housing makes it inaccessible to many citizens. In addition, when buying an apartment in a house that is more than half a century old, you must clearly understand all the difficulties that you will have to face. But at the same time, living in a Stalin-era building is not only cozy, but also prestigious.