The complex of the Rukavishnikov Bank, also known as the former Mayak clothing factory, is one of the most amazing buildings in Nizhny Novgorod. The famous architect Fyodor Schechtel had built it right before World War I for Sergei Rukavishnikov, a local millionaire merchant. It is a building of a most singular design. It is 'double-faced’ — one of its façades faces Nizhne-Volzhskaya Embankment while the other gives onto Rozhdestvenskaya Street. The former is pseudo-Gothic, with narrow high windows and pointed turrets. The latter has a distinctive Art Nouveau style. There are two allegorical figures at the entrance, representing industry and agriculture, by Sergey Konenkov, 'the Russian Rodin.'

During Work War I, a sewing factory moved into this building, which came to be known as Mayak during the Soviet times. It is now home to the Mayak Academy named after Andrei Sakharov.