.ket Preserves the Tabakerka Theatre Facade Without Demolition

The 2025 project for the Tabakerka Theatre facade aims to renew the building’s appearance without entirely replacing its existing facade.

Located on the Garden Ring, one of Moscow’s major transport axes, the Tabakerka Theatre occupies a highly prominent position within the urban skyline. However, the disparate architectural elements added over time diminish the structure’s cohesion on an urban scale. To resolve these spatial inconsistencies, architecture practice .ket proposes wrapping the existing structure in a flexible and translucent new textile layer rather than completely demolishing it.

Dismantling the old facade systems and embarking on an entirely new construction entails a massive financial investment and a high volume of demolition waste. Taking an environmentally rational step at this juncture, .ket avoids demolishing the structure. While preserving the material resources already present in the building, the design adds a minimal new shell over the old structure. Thus, the old and the new coexist simultaneously. The original architecture is preserved as a record of the past.

The crucial decision in .ket’s design is to retain the functional existing facade systems to the greatest extent possible.

The Tabakerka Theatre facade proposal consists of steel supports reinforced by tension cables and a flexible PTFE membrane wrapping the exterior. Resistant to both extreme cold and intense heat, this high-performance woven fiberglass serves simultaneous load-bearing and form-giving functions for the structure. Anchored directly to the old floor slabs at the roof and lower levels, this independent steel framework creates a striking contrast with the rigid geometry of the existing volume within.

The new shell drapes the building much like a shimmering white theatre curtain. Perceived as a giant textile form during the day, this surface assumes the role of an urban lantern after dark. Light filtering through the fabric unifies the previously disjointed architectural fragments into a coherent, singular silhouette. The resulting new layer gives a completely different direction to how the theatre is perceived within the city.

This concept developed by .ket presents a significant alternative to demolition in the renovation of existing structures.

While dismantling the entire facade means introducing new materials and waste, resource consumption is reduced through interventions made solely at the connection points.

Comparative cost calculations or carbon emission data have not yet been released. Therefore, the economic and environmental advantages of the design currently rely on the practice’s projections.

Tabakerka remains an architectural proposal for now. Nevertheless, the Tabakerka Theatre facade proposal highlights a crucial option in the renovation of existing structures: it is possible to alter a building’s appearance without stripping away a functional facade.

The true value of this approach will be understood once the production cost of the new membrane, its operational lifespan, and the additional load it imposes on the existing building are evaluated.