The story
The building of the main children's department store in the Soviet Union, which was then called “Detsky Mir” (meaning "Children's World"), was designed by a Soviet architect Alexey Dushkin and commissioned in 1957. The public opening of the store took place June 6, 1957. The Children's World became the largest children's department store in the Soviet Union.
In 2005 the building was granted the status of a regional cultural heritage monument. In 2006 the supporting structures and the overall technical condition of the building was declared non-complying with safety requirements. In 2008 the department store was closed for renovation.
Reconstruction
At the end of 2011 the new owner of the building, Hals-Development Public Company, and the chief architect of the reconstruction project presented the design and specifications for the reconstruction of the department store.
The construction works began in 2012 and were complete in December 2014.
Features of reconstruction:
The town-planning characteristics of the building (its dimensions), elevations, silhouette, three-dimensional structure, composition, and architectural design of the facades were preserved during the reconstruction as required by law
The outside facade walls of the building: ceramic tiles, granite basement and 26 arched windows were restored and preserved
The central atrium of the building remained in its place, the height raised 30 m
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Eight bronze floor lamps made in the crafts shops of the department store were restored and re-installed on the balcony of the atrium as well as other internal decorations such as over 100 balusters of 1957 in the railings of the atrium
Еntrance groups to the building from the street and from Lubyanka metro station were restored
The three-span loggia of the façade facing Lubyanskaya square, lost in the 80s, was restored to its original condition
COELGO 9 marble was used for internal decoration.
Reopening
After the building reopened on March 31, 2015, under the name "Central Children's Store on Lubyanka," the historical name still belonged to the owner of the building as the trade network "Children's World."
On March 31, 2015, the original Detsky Mir building reopened under the new name Central Children's Store or Central Children's Store on Lubyanka. With 100 stores in a seven store mall complex, the Central Children's Store opened as the largest complex of children's stores in the world, according to its developer Hals-Development. Hals-Development is a subsidiary of state banking group VTB. According to the company "Gals-Development", the new architect recreated on the original architectural design of the Central Children's Store (Tzentralne Destski Mir na Lubyanka).
Reportedly the largest clock in the world, the clock in the new atrium was created by the oldest enterprise in Russia, the Petrodvorets watch factory. Six months were necessary for the development and installation of the clock by a group of engineers from the watch factory "Raketa". The clock's mechanism weighs 4.5 tons and consists of 5000 pieces in steel, aluminum, titanium and gold-plated metal. The mechanism has a height of 13 meters and a width of 7 meters. It consists of 21 large gears and a 13 meters pendulum. The pendulum surface acts as aspheric mirror, creating an optical effect. The main mechanism of the clock is on the fifth floor. It is the largest clock mechanism in the world.
On 24 August 2025, a gas cylinder inside the store exploded, killing one person and injuring three others.
From Wikipedia’s article on Central Children's Store on Lubyanka, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4