The building at Square of Defenders of Ukraine, 17, which houses the Institute for the Advanced Training of Pharmacy Professionals, is a rare example of a surviving historic structure in this neighborhood.

This building looks like an island in the concrete sea of the bus station, the go-kart track, and the soccer practice fields near the Metalist Stadium. It originally housed the Kharkiv House of Industry.

Various sources name both M. Lovtsov and L. Linevich as the architects of this eclectic late 19th-century building.

Unfortunately, the house has lost its tower-shaped original roof ending and the porch with the main entrance. Alas, a similar fate has befallen many buildings in Kharkiv. Perhaps restorers will one day restore the house to its original appearance. However, the original small adjacent structure, which most likely once served as a gatehouse, has been preserved. The entrance to the building is now located in the courtyard, and the gatehouse serves as a reception area.

The white building next door was built quite recently—it’s a new construction—but it complements the historic building quite well, without clashing with it too much. You can even detect some Art Nouveau touches in it.

What exactly did the Kharkiv House of Hard Workers do? I managed to find the charter of its Board of Trustees, which stated its purpose as follows:

…providing urgent, short-term assistance to homeless people discharged from hospitals who do not yet have an income, those released from places of detention, and all residents of the city of Kharkiv and Kharkiv Province who have fallen into extreme poverty, by providing them with work and shelter until their situation is more securely resolved , andthey are placed in permanent employment…

The House of Hard Workers began operating in this building in 1896. At that time, its address was Konnaya Square, 17. The homeless people there made shoes, clothing, and furniture, which were then sold.

The building was damaged by a Russian drone strike on September 16, 2025. The roof and top floor were destroyed, and a fire broke out.