Moscow-based architectural studio Nefa Architects (Nefaresearch) will redesign the Solntsevo metro station due to open in 2017. Their project, which will create a solar spray effect on a platform, won an international competition held in Moscow.

"Solntsevo is named after "sun" in Russian, so we were very lucky to pick this station, because sunlight is the main material for architecture", - explains chief architect Dmitry Ovcharov.

The main idea behind Nefa Architects project and the main difficulty was to recreate sunbeams underground.

The sun ray effect is created by glowing holes in the walls and ceiling on the platform and in the above-ground pavilions.

The illuminated holes then light up on the platform with reflected light from artificial sources, and in the pavilions the sunlight comes in through the perforated concrete panels.

The entrance to the metro in form of a barn serves, or "dacha" houses as a historical reference as Solntsevo in the past century used to be a countryside.

The project proposed by Nefa Architects has won recognition both from the jury at the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow and Moscow citizens who participated in the online referendum.