Shagal is the largest residential redevelopment project not only in Moscow but also in Europe: covering 109 hectares and comprising 9 construction phases on the site of the former industrial zone “ZIL-South,” with plans for completion over 15 years. The territory already had an approved planning project that largely serves as the basis for development. Additionally, the Shagal developer, Etalon Group, decided to further develop a master plan to enhance the project’s potential and make the development more balanced and contemporary.

Our close work with the project began in early 2020 when Etalon Group decided to complement the existing plans with a development strategy, which CM International was tasked with creating. The development strategy provides a more detailed approach to working with the territory and its specific solutions, adapting the core elements of the master plan to a more granular level for key development areas: transportation scheme, functional program for public and commercial spaces, landscaping, ecology, infrastructure solutions, and more. Strategies as a tool for territorial development are still relatively rare and have not yet become a widespread practice. For the Shagal project, it represented a pioneering step and a bold decision by Etalon Group’s leadership.

The main idea behind the strategy was to give the territory more than was taken from it. Through design solutions, we aimed to create a humanistic environment on the former industrial site that integrates organically into the city’s history and is as significant as the legendary ZIL production cluster. We sought to preserve the historical memory of the place while contributing to the sustainable development of Moscow.