A Campus Facility With a Mission:
Transparency, Functionality, Economy

Northern Moscow's growing "Babushkin Region," site of RACU's proposed new campus, seems a most ideal permanent location for carrying out the mission of the University. RACU students will study in an environment of much natural beauty that is distant enough from the Moscow City Center to be economical and rejuvenating, yet fully accessible to local goods, services, community service opportunities, and the notably efficient public transport system.

As the first generation of Russian Christians to be trained specifically to be leaders in the marketplace, in the church, in society and in their nation, RACU students are on a mission. And as faculty, staff, administrators, board members and other supporters, our mission is to provide them the tools to successfully carry it out.
The building in which the University programs will be housed is one of many important tools designed to ensure that our graduates actually have the distinctives for Russian professionals to be "salt" and "light" in 21st century Russia. Its architecture and even construction materials provide a wonderful opportunity to visibly express the very nature and purposes of the activity within.

Under the direction of experienced Russian and Western construction specialists and architects working within the parameters and purpose of the project, we have designed a facility that is consistent with the mission and functions of RACU, economical, and appropriate to the local environment.

The North Wing faces the peaceful Yauza River nature preserve and houses the library and computer lab on the ground level, and three floors with nine seminar rooms, six lecture rooms, four language labs, and an art room/gallery. There will be storage rooms, a student lounge and coat room in the lower basement level.
The West Wing or central core of the facility will house dining facilities and the kitchen on the ground level, with technical rooms and work areas in the basement. The top three floors will house administrative and faculty offices.

The South Wing fronts Menzhinskovo Street and houses a small chapel and coat room off the lobby and conference rooms that can be divided into three sections or used as one large meeting area. The second and third levels house a gymnasium and assembly room with adjacent showers and lockers.

The lobby with its atrium with house a lounge/café area and a security post requiring identification cards and visitor passes upon entry, while the coatroom next door provides convenient storage of winter apparel. Restroom facilities are available on each floor and the building has elevator and stairway access.

A security fence will mark the property boundary. The foliage along the nature preserve will beautifully accent the new campus facility and the walkway, bushes and flowers will welcome all who enter and will be a pleasure for passersby.
The new campus will communicate and demonstrate transparency, honesty, quality, stability, and stewardship to the RACU community within, and to the public outside its walls. It will invite, not overpower; be used to serve, not subject. Working together, each carefully-planned, functional and efficient component of the building will create a whole that is uplifting and beautiful.

The modest atrium will create an openness dramatically contrasting with the monotonous, closed buildings and culture of the old Soviet style of secrecy. In contrast to the gargantuan mirrored walls of many new Moscow banks and corporate high-rises, the transparent glass of RACU's atrium will invite RACU's neighbors and the general public to see into the institution. Every section of the facility, and the lovely atrium in particular, will be space well-used, creating a warm environment that promotes healthy communication and relationships among those served, and those who serve. The University will work hard to be a good neighbor, and it will show.

Finally, the new RACU campus will be ecologically appropriate, both in the use of local construction materials and creative adaptation to the beautiful adjacent green spaces and local natural resources. Our Babushkinskaya campus will maximize every square foot allotted by the building footprint and Moscow city government to accomplish the goal of making a Christian, liberal arts education a permanent option for Russia's leaders of tomorrow.

RACU's new campus facility was designed by Tom Ventulett III of Atlanta and will be constructed by Central Canadian Structures Ltd. of Winnipeg, Canada. The Russian-American Christian University purchased the land lease for this property in the spring of 2001.