At the time of Peter the Great there were a number of key strategic positions along the Neva river, including the area where the Neva river splits into the Bolshaya Nevka river at the most southern end of the Vyborgsky district. Peter the Great positioned Cossack troops here in wooden barracks and they used an adjoining area during the 18th century for their vegetable gardens.
The name of the business centre comes from the name of Peter the Great and the Peter and Paul Fortress he built next to the Neva River. In 1715, Peter I built the first Russian marine hospital next to where Petrovsky Fort is located (Imperial Admiralty Hospital) and also constructed a hospital for the infantry and land based army. Medical and training schools were then established, forming the Imperial Medico-Surgical Academy and these medical schools were transformed into a medical-surgical college in 1798 when a new classical style building was erected.
Over time a number of bridges were constructed to connect the districts of Saint-Petersburg. The first of these was the Liteiny Bridge in 1875-1879 which is not far from Petrovsky Fort. The Finlyandskaya railroad and railway station followed.
Petrovsky Fort is one of the largerst office buildings in Saint-Petersburg. It was designed by the “Stroimontazh” corporation with the help of architects Victoria Struzman; V.Shpritz; A.Mikhalev and help of artists such as Ivan Uralov; S.Repin, V.Sukhov, and N.Fomin.
The building has won a number of design awards, such as a first prize at an international exhibition “MIPIM-2001” in Cannes, France; in 2001 a special award of the Russian Federation State Committee for Construction, Architectural and Housing Policy; in July 2002 a special award as the best Russian development project.
The building was originally designed during the late 1980’s to be a high quality hotel. During the “Perestroika” period in the early 1990’s the building contractor Yugoslavian-Austrian firm "Tzinex" had to stop construction works, which could only be resumed during the early 2000’s. At that time it was decided not proceed with the hotel concept but rather to complete the building as a business center, where another floor was added to the original plans. The main entrance leads to a very large open foyer with a dome and skylights with natural light of over 540 sqm. The building was constructed and finished with the participation of prominent contractors and best equipment sourced from leading supplier firms in Europe. All works were completed and the building opened in 2003.