The station was opened on November 15, 1955, as part of the first phase of the Leningrad Metro “Avtovo” – “Ploshchad Vosstaniya” (7 stations, 10.8 kilometers), located on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya line (M1) between the stations “Narvskaya” and “Avtovo.”

By design, the “Kirovskiy Zavod” metro station is a deep column station. It is one of two stations of this type among the stations of the first phase of the Leningrad Metro. The station features two rows of 31 pairs of columns connected by arches. For the first time in domestic tunnel construction practice, instead of steel columns, the station’s structure uses columns assembled from trough-shaped cast-iron tubings.

The station was the first to use louver lighting (this type of lighting had never before been used in the metro). This is a through grille made of strips of organic glass, behind which fluorescent lamps are installed. Soft, diffused light flows from above through square light fixtures cut into the ceiling. It creates the complete illusion that above the vaults there is an open sky.

The “Kirovskiy Zavod” station is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful stations of the Petersburg Metro. Thanks to numerous elements of decorative and applied arts such as stucco, bas-reliefs, friezes, busts, floor lamps, louvers, grilles, etc., as well as successful forms, the architects managed to create a pleasant-to-perceive station, a unique and inimitable atmosphere, and accurately reflect the theme of the station’s design. In December 2011, the “Kirovskiy Zavod” station was added to the unified state register of cultural heritage sites of regional significance.

The “Kirovskiy Zavod” station is located in the Kirovsky District of Saint Petersburg within the municipal district “Avtovo.” The above-ground vestibule, facing Stachek Avenue near its intersection with Vasi Alekseeva Street, is surrounded by a small landscaped square.

In the near future, the “Kirovskiy Zavod” station is planned to become a transfer station to a new station of the planned Krasnoselsko-Kalininskaya line (Line No. 6), which is expected to be named “Putilovskaya” in memory of the outstanding industrialist Nikolai Ivanovich Putilov. It is planned that a small escalator tunnel will be connected to the end of the “Kirovskiy Zavod” station, allowing passengers to ascend and reach the platform of “Putilovskaya.”

The theme of the station’s architectural design is the development of socialist industry. The station resembles a sunlit factory workshop. The 31 pairs of columns, arranged in two long rows and connected by gentle arches, create a perspective with a clear rhythm.

The top of each column on the side of the central hall is decorated with an aluminum cast bas-relief cartouche featuring an industrial emblem. Chasing and partial polishing give the bas-reliefs a silver appearance. There are 32 pairs of cartouches (the first from the station entrance is installed at the edge of the wall) dedicated to the four foundations of heavy industry: oil, metallurgy, coal mining, and electrification.

On the platform side, they have a more modest appearance and simultaneously serve as ventilation grilles. The columns and walls of the underground station are clad with light gray Caucasian marble “Verkhnyaya Svanetiya” with blue veins. The upper part of the columns is decorated with a decorative relief frieze. The capitals of opposite columns are connected by stucco arches on the vault, depicting the letter “K,” the emblem of the Kirov Plant, surrounded by wreaths of leaves and stars.

At the end of the station, in a decorative niche on a pedestal made of red Ukrainian granite, stands a bronze bust of V.I. Lenin, created by sculptor N.V. Davydkin. Initially, it was planned to install a bust of S.M. Kirov here, in accordance with the station’s and plant’s name, but for unclear reasons, the bust of the Leader of the Proletariat was installed instead.

A distinctive “path” made of burgundy granite from the Leznikovskoye deposit leads from the escalators to the bust across the entire length of the hall. Its black-and-white edging is made of light Ural marble from the Prokhorovo-Balandinsky deposit and dark Karelian gabbro granite.

Additionally, from 2003 to 2005, the station underwent replacement of the marble cladding on the columns, restoration of the waterproofing of the vaults, and restoration of the bust of V.I. Lenin in the end wall of the station. In 2008, partial replacement of the track wall cladding was carried out.

The relief track walls of the station repeat the silhouettes of the columns and arches and are also clad with light gray marble “Verkhnyaya Svanetiya.” The plinth of the track walls is clad with slabs of dark gray Ural marble “Karkadino.” Decorative doors of cable cabinets with the inscription “1955,” reflecting the year the station opened, are installed on the track walls. The arches and walls of the central and side halls are topped with a decorative stucco cornice. All three vaults of the station are finished with white plaster.

As mentioned above, the “Kirovskiy Zavod” station was the first in the metro to use “louver lighting.” A louver is a through grille made of strips of organic glass. Behind it, at a certain distance, fluorescent lamps are installed, and their radiation seems to filter through the square openings of the grille, creating even, calm lighting. Soft, diffused light flows from above through square light fixtures cut into the ceiling, creating the illusion that above the vaults there is an open sky. In 2007, the original organic glass louvers were removed and lost; a modern replacement was installed instead.

The frames surrounding the light fixtures are made of polished aluminum with stucco molding painted to resemble bronze. Until the 1990s, all light fixtures were turned on. Currently, to save electricity, usually every other chandelier in the central hall is lit, and above the platforms, all chandeliers are on but only five of nine sections are lit.

The above-ground vestibule of the “Kirovskiy Zavod” metro station is located in a separate building designed by architect A.K. Andreev and structural engineer O.V. Ivanova. It is executed in the classical style characteristic of that time and resembles an ancient Greek temple, approached by a wide granite staircase equipped with a ramp. The building’s rectangle is formed by 44 Doric columns with fluting arranged around the perimeter.

The top of the building is decorated around the perimeter with a frieze featuring bas-reliefs in the form of banners and stars. Arched openings are filled with decorative grilles with cast-iron and bronze details. Original massive oak doors are installed in the doorways. The facades and columns are clad outside with terrazzo plaster and painted beige.

In the early 1970s, an underground passage was built opposite the vestibule across Stachek Avenue, resulting in the removal of trees in front of the vestibule. In the 1990s, glass pavilions combined with retail outlets were constructed over the passage, which do not fit the surrounding architectural environment and noticeably distort the view of the vestibule from the avenue.

Inside, the above-ground vestibule consists of four interconnected halls. The main hall is circular, with a dome resting on a cornice supported by eight Doric columns clad in artificial white marble. The other three halls serve for entrance, exit, and passenger distribution, respectively.

The ticket hall, where entering passengers arrive, is designed as a rotunda crowned by a coffered dome with eight fluted Doric columns, two in each corner. The walls and columns of the ticket hall are clad with light marble from the Prokhorovo-Balandinsky deposit.

The distribution hall has a semicircular shape. On three sides, marble arches provide access to the other halls of the above-ground vestibule. The hall is separated from the ticket hall by a line of automatic fare control turnstiles. The smallest of the four halls serves as the exit for passengers to the street. Its central design element is a large window opening decorated with a cast-iron grille.

The walls of the escalator, distribution, and exit halls are plastered and painted light brown, with cornices decorated with stucco friezes. Two types of lighting are used in the above-ground vestibule – cornice lighting and original decorative floor lamps. The floor lamps are installed either in specially designated niches or placed in corners on pedestals and consist of a thick metal rod and a light wide bowl. The rods are decorated with many forged elements, including ears of grain, sickles and hammers, and ribbons. The bowl of the floor lamp has an almost flat rounded shape, made of glass with decorative forged inserts of Soviet symbols. The floor of the above-ground vestibule is paved with granite of various types.

The inclined passage of the station, through which passengers descend underground, begins in the round escalator hall of the above-ground vestibule, descends 50 meters underground, and adjoins the northern end of the central hall of the underground station complex. It contains a single cascade of three-ribbon wide-balustrade escalators, similar to those installed at other stations of the first phase of the Leningrad Metro. The escalator balustrades are finished with panels stylized as wood. The inclined passage is illuminated by decorative light fixtures with shades depicting burning torches, installed in a quantity of thirty on each of the two balustrades.

The construction of the “Kirovskiy Zavod” metro station was first mentioned in one of the earliest projects of the Leningrad Metro, compiled by the Leningrad Scientific Research Institute of Municipal Economy in 1933. The station was also included in the pre-war project approved for construction and remained after its revision in 1946. The main reason for choosing this location for the station was its proximity to the oldest and one of the largest machine-building, metallurgical, and military-industrial enterprises – the Kirov Plant, which employed about 50,000 workers.

Construction began in April 1941 with the laying of the shaft. Initially, construction proceeded at a very high pace, but the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union disrupted peaceful plans, and the construction was suspended by wet conservation. On June 27, by decision of the Military Council of the Northwestern Direction, metro builders switched to building defensive structures on the approaches to Leningrad.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, in November 1945, workers returned to the metro route. On November 5, 1955, the act of acceptance into operation of the “Kirovskiy Zavod” station as part of the Leningrad Metro was signed, and on November 15, after a ceremonial rally dedicated to the opening of the first phase (“Ploshchad Vosstaniya” – “Avtovo”) of the Leningrad Metro, the station opened its doors to the first passengers.

According to the original project, marble plaques with letters from Leningraders “to the Father of the Peoples” I.V. Stalin were to be mounted on the columns, but, as with many other stations of the first phase, this was never done. A monument to S.M. Kirov was also planned to be immortalized at the end of the central hall of the station, but for unknown reasons, a bust of V.I. Lenin was installed there instead.

The station received its name thanks to the powerful and important machine-building enterprise of the same name located nearby. The station’s name is “Kirovskaya,” also derived from the plant and the district of the city where it is located.

Sources:

https://www.mirmetro.net/spb/01/14_kirovsky_zavod

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кировский_завод_(станция_метро)