Sadovaya St., 34, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 194361
In 1904, the Second Mutual Credit Society purchased an income-generating building from the merchant Lapshin, originally constructed in 1880 by architect Tatski, with the intention of subsequently remodeling it. The project by the talented and by then successful architect Fyodor (Johann Friedrich) Lidval took only second place in the competition (first place went to Lyalevich), but nevertheless, it was Lidval’s design that was chosen by the client for construction.
The construction of the building was completed in 1909. The influential architectural critic of the magazine "Apollon," Roh, wrote that in the summer of 1909, the only events in the architectural life of St. Petersburg were the buildings of the Second Mutual Credit Society and the Azov-Don Bank (also designed by Lidval).
The resulting building is one of the best examples of "Northern Modernism": a severe style that favors gray color, muted tones of other colors, massive columns, an equally massive—monolithic, like a Roman palace—facade, and small windows.
But the house on Sadovaya Street is the apotheosis of severity. Only gray is used in the facade decoration, massive half-columns, large blocks, strict forms, and even the figures on the bas-reliefs are no longer ancient gods but stern northerners.
The building is located on a narrow, elongated plot extending deep into the block, which required the creation of two light courtyards for better illumination of the inner-block structures. The building features clear zoning of the interior space by function. The front part, occupying the entire width of the plot, houses the halls and administrative offices; the building placed in the center of the courtyard contains the "heart of the bank"—a spacious two-story operational hall; the wings farthest from the street accommodate auxiliary rooms and staff residences. The planning structure is reflected on the facade. The first floor, where the main entrance with the vestibule was located, is highlighted by large display windows. Above, in the central part of the building, are the reception, meeting hall, and council hall—representative rooms emphasized on the facade by a tall—three-story—arched niche. Most of the facade wall is marked by rustication. The facade composition, completed across the entire width by a gently sloping gable, impresses with its precise proportions. The expressive facade reliefs were created by sculptor Kozelsky.
The four-story building is situated on a narrow plot and is distinguished by a clear distribution of interior space. The front part housed halls and management offices, the rear part contained service rooms and staff residences, and the middle part featured a spacious two-story operational hall. The center of the facade is highlighted by a huge niche with a semicircular top.
Mutual Credit Societies belonged to the category of non-governmental credit institutions and differed from other credit institutions in that, firstly, the owners of the Society were not creditors but borrowers, and secondly, members of the Society had to be bound by joint liability. Thus, the Societies performed the role of "self-help" in organizing credit, and on terms attractive to their members, which was also reflected in the name of the St. Petersburg Second Mutual Credit Society "Cheap Credit."
Currently, the building houses the St. Petersburg branch of OJSC "Baltic Bank."
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