This year marks the 70th anniversary of Builder's Day. Established by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 6, 1955, the holiday was celebrated for the first time on August 12, 1956. The city’s greatest gift was the opening of the V.I. Lenin Central Stadium—the Grand Sports Arena—in Luzhniki; for decades, it stood as a symbol of national sports and engineering prowess. Since then, the two dates have been inextricably linked.

The decision to build Luzhniki was made on December 23, 1954. The project was developed in just 90 days by architects A. Vlasov, I. Rozhin, N. Ullas, and A. Khryakov, alongside engineers V. Nasonov, N. Reznikov, and V. Polikarpov. Construction itself took 450 days—a record-breaking timeframe for a facility of this scale. On July 31, 1956, the country's main arena opened with a friendly match between the national teams of the USSR and the PRC. With a capacity of approximately 101,000 spectators seated on wooden benches, the stadium became the USSR's first large-scale public complex designed in the spirit of rationalism.

By 2013, when the question of renovating Luzhniki Stadium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup arose, the venue was a unique hybrid of different eras: it featured an exterior brick wall from the 1950s alongside a roof and columns dating from the 1990s. Many experts believed it would be easier to simply demolish the stadium and build a new one. However, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin made a historic decision: to preserve the structure's exterior appearance while creating a modern complex within.

Metropolis was responsible for developing the structural and engineering designs for the renovation project. The team faced a unique challenge: preserving the historic façade while creating a modern sports complex inside that met international standards and FIFA regulations. In total, 250,000 tons of reinforced concrete structures and partitions were dismantled. To maintain the stability of the 25-meter-high façade walls, 1,100 tons of steel trusses and beams were installed. The roof was first detached from the old framework and then reattached to the new reinforced concrete stand structure—a process that required 120,000 cubic meters of concrete. The façade wall was secured using flexible horizontal ties.

The new roof of the Grand Sports Arena deserves special attention. It does not touch the stadium structure itself but rests on its own independent supports. The roofing is made of polycarbonate. As part of the engineering design, the team increased the area of the translucent roofing by installing a canopy along the stadium roof's inner perimeter. Metropolis specialists also developed the engineering systems, including power supply, water supply and drainage, HVAC, and automation and control systems. The steel trusses rest on reinforced concrete structures via omnidirectional spherical bearings—specialized assemblies designed by the company—capable of transferring loads of up to 650 tons.

Over the course of four years, more than 100 Metropolis engineers and structural designers worked on the project, pouring their hearts, minds, and souls into realizing this highly complex engineering concept.

Following the renovation, the Grand Sports Arena’s total area reached 221,000 m², with the space beneath the stands expanded to 181,000 m² and capacity increased to 81,000 spectators—an increase of 3,000. The stands were built with a steeper rake to ensure excellent visibility from every seat. The facility now features 102 skyboxes, 2,000 VIP seats, and 300 spaces for people with limited mobility. The number of exits was increased from 13 to 16. In 2017, the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena was named the world's best stadium by the expert jury at Stadiumdb.com.

In 1956, the opening of Luzhniki served as the city's premier gift for the inaugural Builders' Day. Seventy years later, that gift endures—renovated yet instantly recognizable. Credit for this goes not only to those who built the arena in a record-breaking 450 days but also to those who, decades later, managed to preserve its soul while breathing new life into its historic walls.

Read more about the history of the holiday and the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena in the Moskovskaya Perspektiva article.