The building, made of brick and having a E-shape, consists of two floors, while its southern corner part has three. The main facade is designed in a classical style. In 1848, a merchant G. I. Repin built a residential house on this site, which later passed to merchant S. I. Kruglov.

Initially, it was a two-story brick building with single-story wings on the sides. In 1874, the City Duma acquired it to house the real school, opened on July 1 (13), 1873, in the house of merchant Kalashnikov on Volkhovskaya Street and named after Grand Duke, future Emperor Alexander III. In 1874-1875, the wings were raised to a second floor and connected to the main building, and on the second floor of the southern part, a room for the domestic Alexandrov Church was arranged according to the project of architect I. F. Thibo-Brignol. In 1879, the building underwent internal re-planning under the guidance of architect M. M. Polivanov.

In 1890, a two-story extension for the drawing class was added to the northern side of the main building, and in 1895-1896, the church room was raised to a third floor according to the project of architect M. M. Pukhalsky. The new church was consecrated on February 15 (27), 1897. By the end of the 1880s, the school had become a general education school with a seven-year term of study, which educated more than 250 boys. The school had fundamental and student libraries. Over the years, church poet and local historian I. V. Livansky, Moscow educator and public figure F. V. Tsvetaev taught here, and among the students were scientist-forester M. M. Orlov, bibliophile I. M. Pukhalsky, biologist and artist V. A. Belyaev, scientist-soil scientist F. V. Chirikov, as well as revolutionary brothers Dubrovinsky and B. S. Peres.

In 1918, the school was transformed into a unified labor school of the second stage. During the Soviet period, various educational institutions were located in the building. In 1981-1983, interior reconstruction and facade finishing works were carried out. On October 29, 1983, a district House of Pioneers opened here, which became a House of Creativity for Children and Youth in 1992. Memorial plaques in honor of the Dubrovinsky brothers and M. M. Orlov are installed on the building.