The northeastern end of the line, including Sokolniki, was built using the cut and cover method.

The tunnels from Krasnoselskaya to Sokolniki were under construction as early as the summer of 1933, but work did not begin on the station itself until March 1934.

The concrete shell of the station was completed in just five months, and Sokolniki opened along with the rest of the line on 15 May 1935.

[citation needed] Sokolniki was the eastern terminus of the line for 30 years until the 1965 extension to Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad was completed.

[citation needed] The station was designed by architects Ivan Taranov and Nadezhda Bykova and features tiled walls and pillars faced with grey-blue Ufaley marble.