Three Samara Projects Receive Prestigious Heritage Prizes
The «Heritage is Pricier» award highlights best practices in restoring and adapting historical buildings.
Projects from Samara were recognized at the second National «Heritage is Pricier» Award, whose ceremony took place on January 22–23 at Neuhausen Castle in Kaliningrad Region as part of the «Heritage Economy» forum.
Samara and Samara Region are well represented among the award«s participants and laureates.
The award is presented for best practices in preserving and adapting cultural heritage sites and is held with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation. The organizers are the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIK) and the charitable foundation «Tom Sawyer Fest – Heritage».
The TM bureau shared their excitement about restoring the Bird House, noting the community of enthusiasts passionate about old buildings.
In the nomination «Careful Renovation. Projects over 50 million rubles (approximately $555,600 at current rates),» the finalist was the artisanal bakery «Beloturka» in Samara — a project that combined the restoration of a historical building with the revival of regional culinary traditions.
The restoration of the Bird House on Molodogvardeyskaya Street involved careful work to preserve its historical features.
In the nomination «Careful Renovation. Projects costing up to 10 million rubles (approximately $111,100 at current rates),» the «Bird House» on Molodogvardeyskaya Street in Samara was recognized.
The «Yagoza» travel lounge project was previously featured in an in-depth report on heritage restoration.
«Architects Irina Fishman and Alexander Shutkin (from the TM bureau) uncovered the genuine historical value of the building and carried out careful restoration, turning the object into a cultural space,» the award organizers explained.
The Bird House is a small two-story building, formerly a mid-19th century shop, later a rental (very intimate) house, and then a communal apartment. The new owners bought it out in 2020 for 2.2 million rubles (approximately $24,400 at current rates) and very carefully restored it — both the house and the courtyard behind the arch with gates. On the facade, they noticed two painted bullfinches: the previous owner wanted to cover up graffiti with them. That«s how the house got its name. The drawing was removed along with the old plaster, but the idea was preserved by decorating the facade with ceramic birds.
Additionally, the special award «For Recreating the Sociocultural Code of the Territory» was given to the travel lounge «Yagoza» — a private tourist information center located in a historical building from 1917.
Furthermore, in the nomination «Personal Contribution,» the winner was Anna Melnikova, coordinator of the «Tom Sawyer Fest» movement in Buzuluk (Orenburg Region), closely linked with the Samara festival community.
«The »Heritage Economy« forum brought together over 600 participants from all over Russia and became a platform for discussing the role of historical real estate in the development of regions, tourism, and urban economy,» the event organizers said.
Anastasia Knor, director of the charitable foundation «Tom Sawyer Fest – Heritage,» noted that the award aims to support those who take responsibility for the historical environment:
«We hold the »Heritage is Pricier« award to elevate the status of investors in historical real estate. Today, such projects are largely implemented by enthusiasts, but it is they who change the face of cities and shape a new attitude towards architectural heritage — as a resource for life and business,» she said.
