The Business Centre

Originally designed to house the industrial laboratories of the Moldselkhoztekhhnika and Soyuzgortekhvodstroy Institutes, the Business Centre complex on Bulevardul Moscova consists of two distinct volumes arranged around an inner courtyard. The main structure is a nine-storey block set back from the street at a slight angle, its two wings meeting at an obtuse angle. The second volume is L-shaped, positioned forward at the street corner with one side running along Strada Miron Costin, stepping down across three staggered horizontal levels. A rectangular connecting element with a flat facade joins the two structures and forms the main entrance. The facade of the main volume is partially clad in limestone, with vertical lesenes of anodised aluminium profiles running between the window rows on the front and rear elevations. The terminal ends of the main block feature loggias. A distinctive concave cantilevered cornice runs along the roofline of both the tower and the individual stepped levels of the lower structure, tying the composition together horizontally. The construction throughout uses precast elements assembled on a concrete framework. The complex now functions as a mixed office and commercial centre. A post-Soviet rehabilitation altered the colours and surface textures of both volumes, increasing their visual detachment from one another. The lower structure is occupied at ground level by retail and banking tenants. A large vacant plot at the intersection was designated in the Soviet era for a restaurant called Al șaptelea cer ('Seventh Heaven') by G. Solomonov featuring a tower with a dining room at the top and a waterfall aqueduct spanning the boulevard. However, it was never realised and has since been filled by a large residential development.