Singer House, Office building on Nevsky Prospekt, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Singer House is a six-story office and commercial building on Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The facade in polished granite frames large windows and is crowned by a glass tower with a globe sculpture.
The Singer sewing machine company commissioned architect Pavel Suzor in 1902 to design their Russian headquarters. Construction was completed in 1904 and used for the first time in Russia a full steel frame as load-bearing structure.
The name recalls the American sewing machine company that once ran its Russian business from here. Today the ground floor serves as a meeting point for readers and the upper floors host offices of a major Russian social network.
The building sits at a busy junction on Nevsky and is freely accessible to visitors who wish to explore the bookstore on the ground floor. The interior spaces are open during the day and offer a good view of Art Nouveau details in the entrance hall.
The structural design allowed for much larger window surfaces than traditional masonry buildings and let natural light penetrate deep into the work spaces. The original heating system distributed warm air through concealed ducts in the walls, a technique that was barely known in Russia at the time.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
