General I.F. Tutolmin's house — an elegant early eclectic mansion

  • lighting company:
    Zen.Light
  • installation:
    KIP
  • supply:
    KIP
  • photographers:
    Sergey Luks
About the project
Walking along the intersection of Malaya Morskaya and Gorokhovaya streets, you will probably find the building of general officer Tutolmin’s mansion as another beautiful structure that organically fits into the architectural portrait of the northern capital. And you will be absolutely right. However, there is an unusual story about the building transformation behind this beauty, which came upon a special architectural period: a rejection of classic architectural traditions and a smooth shift towards eclecticism. The plot of the two-storey house No. 28 was assigned to the privy councilor Vasily Yakovlevich Novosiltsev in 1736. The following owners built over the house and outbuildings in the architectural style of their time. By the middle of the 19th century, the house was already 4-storey and belonged to the captain, and at the beginning of the 20th century to the general of the infantry — Ivan Fedorovich Tutolmin. During this time, the house was rebuilt twice by the project of Pavel Yulievich Suzor. He used such details which are specific to the late eclecticism: head moulding, rustics and balconies. Suzor made the building to have the form that has survived through the centuries to our time in 1881.
Lighting concept and goals
The main objective of the project — to enhance the status and attractiveness of the building being reconstructed into a prestigious hotel. By doing that, it was necessary to take into account the balance of light temperature in the quarter, especially paying attention to the building located next door, — Au Pont Rouge („At the Red Bridge”). Because both buildings bear the status of a guarded object with historical value.
Project implementation
Each architectural element of the mansion has its own lighting effect. LINE lamps with asymmetric optics are used to illuminate pilasters and relief parts of the facade, creating a sliding light effect and a gradient. Moreover, a lighting device of this series, but with a different optics — oval, evenly illuminates the cornice and spaces between windows. Volumetric accents on the statues and high reliefs are set with miniature KUB spotlights, and the pediment of the building, with the Tutolmins family coat of arms, is highlighted by the floodlight with the help of the RAY device.
There are EDGE-mini lamps with 8x180° toroidal optics on the drips for the additional accents in the window openings. This lightning mode is planned to be combined with New-Year shaped garland.
Taking into account the location of the building and the specifics of its purpose, all the equipment in the project was selected in such a way that it is barely noticeable on the facade. You can see the light, but not it’s source.

lighting equipment