Built-in metro system concourse in historical buildings: the experience of Leningrad and Prague, modern problems and technologies in the context of a barrier-free environment establishment

Abstract

Currently, the barrier-free environment establishment in transport (including in the metro system) is one of the most urgent tasks. When retrofitting existing metro stations for access by disabled people and other people with limited mobility in a dense urban development of the historical center, it will inevitably arise the need to build additional concourse and related premises in historical buildings and cultural heritage sites. For St. Petersburg, this topic is especially important, given the specific structure of the city’s historical center and the location peculiarities of central metro stations. This article examines and briefly analyzes the building metro concourse experience in historical buildings and cultural heritage sites in Leningrad (on the example of the St. Petersburg metro stations «Mayakovskva», «Nevsky Prospekt» / «Gostiny Dvor») and Prague (on the example of the Prague metro stations «I.P. Pavlova» and «Karlovo namesti»). The investigated Prague projects experience is the most relevant in relation to the modern providing a barrier-free environment challenges that St. Petersburg metro faced. The article also provides a cementing overview (for stabilizing the preserved object’s soil and foundations, including Jet Grouting) and their use peculiarities in the existing historical development. One of the options proposed by the authors to provide access for disabled people and other people with limited mobility to the Ploschad Vosstaniya metro station is considered. This option was prepared in the course of pre-design studies on organizing access for disabled people and other people with limited mobility to 11 Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya line stations of the St. Petersburg metro in 2019–2020.