diff --git a/runtime/build.gradle b/runtime/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9ec91384345
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+// TODO: consider using some Gradle plugins to build and test
+
+def srcDir = 'src/main/cpp'
+def objDir = "$buildDir/bitcode"
+def outFile = "$buildDir/runtime.bc"
+
+task compile(type: Exec) {
+    doFirst {
+         new File(objDir).mkdirs()
+    }
+
+    inputs.dir srcDir
+    outputs.dir objDir
+
+    workingDir objDir
+
+    executable "$llvmInstallPath/bin/clang"
+    args '-std=c++11'
+
+    args '-c', '-emit-llvm'
+
+    args fileTree(srcDir).include('**/*.cpp')
+}
+
+task build(type: Exec) {
+    dependsOn compile
+
+    inputs.dir objDir
+    outputs.file outFile
+
+    executable "$llvmInstallPath/bin/llvm-link"
+    args '-o', outFile
+
+    doFirst {
+        args fileTree(objDir).include('**/*.bc')
+    }
+}
+
+task test {
+    dependsOn build
+
+    doLast {
+        exec {
+	    commandLine "$llvmInstallPath/bin/clang", 'src/test/c/main.c', '-c', '-emit-llvm', '-o', "$buildDir/main.bc"
+	}
+        exec {
+	    commandLine "$llvmInstallPath/bin/clang++", outFile, "$buildDir/main.bc", '-o', "$buildDir/main"
+	}
+	exec {
+	    workingDir buildDir
+	    commandLine './main'
+	}
+    }
+}
+
+task clean << {
+    delete buildDir
+}
diff --git a/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.cpp b/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3e9919a3c02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#include <cassert>
+#include "TypeInfo.h"
+
+extern "C" {
+    int lookupField(TypeInfo* info, NameHash nameSignature) {
+        assert(false); // not implemented yet
+        return -1;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.h b/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8df39fa4705
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/src/main/cpp/TypeInfo.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#ifndef RUNTIME_TYPEINFO_H
+#define RUNTIME_TYPEINFO_H
+
+#include <cstdint>
+
+// All names in system are stored as hashes (or maybe, for debug builds,
+// as pointers to uniqued C strings containing names?).
+typedef int64_t NameHash;
+
+// An element of sorted by hash in-place array representing methods.
+struct MethodTableRecord {
+    NameHash nameSignature;
+    void* methodEntryPoint;
+};
+
+// An element of sorted by hash in-place array representing field offsets.
+struct FieldTableRecord {
+    NameHash nameSignature;
+    int fieldOffset;
+};
+
+// This struct represents runtime type information and by itself is compile time
+// constant.
+struct TypeInfo {
+    NameHash name;
+    int size;
+    const TypeInfo* superType;
+    const int* objOffsets;
+    int objOffsetsCount;
+    TypeInfo* const* implementedInterfaces;
+    int implementedInterfacesCount;
+    const MethodTableRecord* methods;
+    int methodsCount;
+    const FieldTableRecord* fields;
+    int fieldsCount;
+};
+
+
+#endif //RUNTIME_TYPEINFO_H
diff --git a/runtime/src/main/cpp/launcher.cpp b/runtime/src/main/cpp/launcher.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc2d10187d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/src/main/cpp/launcher.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+extern "C" void kotlinNativeMain();
+
+int main() {
+    kotlinNativeMain();
+    return 0;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/runtime/src/test/c/main.c b/runtime/src/test/c/main.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07e58d74dab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/src/test/c/main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <printf.h>
+
+void kotlinNativeMain() {
+    // nothing to test yet
+}
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index f904ffb1584..fbd1ea6cbcd 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ include ':Interop:StubGenerator'
 include ':Interop:Runtime'
 include ':InteropExample'
 include ':backend.native'
+include ':runtime'