The Vitrina district is part of a new urban development in the south of Nur-Sultan, the recently established capital of Kazakhstan. With the city expanding rapidly in all directions, its newly planned city districts tend to lack a connection to the city centre, partly due to the limited public transport connections and harsh climate. This poses the question: how can we deliver an urban design and building programme to support the development of a more connected community?

In our planning, we envisaged a project that would establish a connection with the city while providing a safe and comfortable living environment for its eventual residents. Tasked with advising the client in creating a design brief, we collaborated with local experts to develop a balanced, functional and feasible mixed-use building scheme.

Facing the main access road is a lively pedestrian shopping street. Here, two kinds of apartment blocks create a vibrant and recognisable street profile. Closer to the interior of the project, a human-scale green square is surrounded by boutique shops and a community co-working space. Apartments and villas are well connected to the communal and shopping areas by a designated pedestrian walkway.

In designing the villa neighbourhood, we broke with the local standard of fenced private residences lining a monofunctional street. To answer the need for safety, we introduced a concept where security is guaranteed by entrance road surveillance. This also allowed us to develop an open plan with green borders between residences. Visual interaction between houses and community playgrounds and parks increases the sense of security and encourages the use of public spaces. To combat the long and harsh winter season, there are plans in place for indoor facilities such as a gym, an indoor playground and a day-care and community centre.