The ensemble of the Exchange Square acquired its current appearance at the beginning of the XIX century. First, a new building of the Exchange was built according to the design of Thomas de Thomon. And in 1826, near the Exchange, construction began on two warehouse buildings intended for warehouses and exhibitions of goods, as well as a Customs building according to the design of the architect I.F. Lukini.


Simple in their architecture, the warehouses complement the ensemble, the simplicity of the end facades facing the square does not distract attention from the Exchange building itself. The ceremonial facades of the warehouses, decorated with columns, overlook the embankments of the Bolshaya and Malaya Neva.

The building of the southern warehouse houses the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1930. The exhibition part of the institute is the Zoological Museum, the official opening of which took place in 1832. The building of the northern warehouse houses the Dokuchaev Soil Science Museum.