Bank Buildings (entry)

Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments/Public Buildings and Edifices
BANK BUILDINGS, public buildings designed for housing finance and credit institutions. The first special bank buildings were the Assignation Bank building at Sadovaya Street (1783-90, architect G. Quarenghi) and the State Loan Bank at the corner of Demidova Lane and Kazanskaya Street (1790-1793, architect L. Rusca; expanded and built on in 1839-40, architect A. Adamini and in 1864-75, architect I.A. Merz). The State Business Bank founded in 1817, occupied the annex of the Assignation Bank, built by the project of architect L. Rusca and situated on the side of Ekaterininsky Canal (today, Griboedova Canal). The Council of the State Credit Institution was also situated there. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the construction of buildings for state and private banks and insurance companies grew considerably and we start to see characteristic functional planning of bank buildings with a large, well-lit lobby surrounded by a series of service rooms, an impressive facade, made in Historical or Neo-Classical styles, less frequently in Art Nouveau. Natural stone, metal and other materials demonstrating the bank opulence and reliability were used for the design of facades and hall interiors. Among bank buildings of the late 19th century, are the buildings of St. Petersburg City Credit Society (7 Ostrovskogo Square; 1876-79, architect E.G. Yurgens and E.F. Kruger) and of Russian Bank of Foreign Trade (32 Bolshaya Morskaya Street) with the facades characteristic of the Late Renaissance build by the projects of architect V.A. Schreter. True to style, P.Y. Suzor erected the grandiose building of the Petersburg Mutual Loan Society (13 Griboedova Canal Embankment; 1888-90). Architects A.S. Khrenov and B.I. Girshovich introduced an asymmetrical composition into the facades of the District Council Mutual Loan Society (1893-94; 8 Italyanskaya Street) and Azovsky Business Bank (62 Nevsky Prospect). The building of Azovsko-Donskoy Bank at 5 Bolshaya Morskaya Street (architect F.I. Lidval, 1907-09, expanded in 1912-13) is a striking example of St. Petersburg Retrospectivism (Neoclassicism). Among the bank buildings constructed in the early 20th century in Neoclassical style, are those of G. Wawelberg & Co (7-9 Nevsky Prospect; 1911-12) and Russian Bank of Commerce and Industry (15 Bolshaya Morskaya St.; 1912-14; both built by architect M.M. Peretyatkovich), remarkable for their ponderous size.

References: Кириков Б. М. Архитектура петербургских банков конца XIX - нач. ХХ в. // Краеведческие записки: Исслед. и материалы. СПб., 1997. Вып. 5. С. 125-161; Заварихин С. П., Фалтинский Р. А. Капитал и архитектура: История архитектуры и стр-ва банковских зданий в России. СПб., 1999.

M. N. Mikishatiev. Adamini Agostino
Adamini Domenico
Girshovich Boris Ionovich
Khrenov Alexander Sergeevich
Kirikov Boris Mikhailovich
Kruger Eduard Fedorovich
Lidval Fedor (Iogan Friedrich) Ivanovich
Peretyatkovich Marian Marianovich
Quarenghi Giacomo
Rusca Luigi (Aloisy Ivanovich)
Schreter Viktor Alexandrovich
Suzor Pavel Yulievich
Wawelberg Heinrich
Yurgens Emmanuel Gustavovich
Yurgens Emmanuel Gustavovich
Bolshaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Bolshaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 15
Bolshaya Morskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 32
Griboedova Canal Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 13
Grivtsova Lane/Saint Petersburg, city
Italyanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Kazanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7-9
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 62
Ostrovsky Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Sadovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Кириков Б. М. Архитектура петербургских банков конца XIX - начала ХХ века // Краеведческие записки: Исслед. и материалы. СПб., 1997
Андрюшин С.А. Банки Российской империи. Томск, 1996
Заварихин С. П., Фалтинский Р.А. Капитал и архитектура: История архитектуры и стр-ва банковских зданий в России. СПб., 1999 Assignation Bank
Russian Bank for Foreign Trade
Mutual Credit Societies
Azovsko-Donskoy Commercial Bank
Russian Bank of Commerce and Industry
1790
1912