The building at Constitution Square, 24 is one of the square’s main landmarks. It was built for the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank to a design by the architect Oleksiy Beketov in an Art Nouveau style, which was unusual for him. Construction was completed in 1908.
The building’s main feature is the high reliefs of ship’s prows, which allude to the bank’s name (rivers Volga and Kama). There are also bas-reliefs of bears on the building.
Following the 1917 revolution, the building housed a large number of organisations and institutions, which succeeded one another:
- The All-Ukrainian Office of the Bank for Foreign Trade;
- The ‘Vuglerozvidka’ Trust;
- The First Joint-Stock Company ‘Transport’;
- The Kharkiv Philharmonic;
- Ukrhydroproekt;
- The Puppet Theatre.
The Puppet Theatre moved into the building in 1968. Prior to this, the premises were renovated specifically for the theatre, based on a design by architects B. Klein and E. Lyubomilova. The interiors and façades were designed by O. Shcheglov, I. Mitskevichute, V. Mayatsky and Y. Brezvina. During the renovation, a distinctive mosaic panel was added to the building, depicting four puppets: a cosmonaut, a Red Army soldier, and a peasant couple (artist O. Shcheglov). Mosaic can be considered an element of Soviet modernism.
Incidentally, the initial design rendering of the bank’s façade differs significantly from the final project.
The building’s façade was restored by the Kharkiv branch of the ‘Ukrproektrestavratsiya’ Institute (architects V. Novgorodov, V. Lopatk, V. Prylutskyi).
As a result of Russian missile strikes on Constitution Square in March 2022, the building’s glazing was damaged.