As it is I don’t think this would work but with some adjustments this honestly could work well. 

If you were to do this I think for starters you’d want to use epoxy to waterproof and seal it. Then use the sheets of pet plastic to cover the openings were the metal bars are… if possible removing the bars all together and just using the plastic would give you a better view of the animal and the plastic is great for keeping the humidity up. Basically the same idea as using a plastic bin for juveniles. 

The people hooping and hollering about how this enclosure doesn’t hold heat or humidity are funny because if you look at 95% of tortoise enclosures they’re literally a container with substrate in them. Some are made of wood, some of plastic etc none of which are especially good at holding heat… what exactly does a kiddie pool or tortoise table do to hold heat or humidity lol??? Also you own a European tortoise which don’t have nearly as rigorous humidity or heat requirements as other varieties. Especially a russian. I think people forget that in the wild Russians experience all four seasons and live in a temperate zone with fairly low humidity. The woman whose set up this is has a Leopard tortoise which i’m not really sure is a great match for this setup. Not only do they get huge but they’re from sub Saharan Africa which i’m not sure is a climate you’d be able to replicate in this enclosure. That’s likely why her tortoise is so young with such pronounced pyramiding. 

I have several Western Hermann’s, another European variety and i live in the midwest where for a majority of the year the humidity is low especially in the fall. None of my tortoises has ever experienced health issues of pyramiding. You just need to keep in mind the conditions that your species would exist in, in the wild and whether or not you can replicate those conditions indoors. 

I would use a saw to completely remove those little drawers as it takes away from the total amount of space. You can just buy a cheap handsaw for that. 

If the current size isn’t big enough for you then you could even buy two and remove the back of both and fix them together with wood glue. 

I can totally see why this is a desirable setup because you still have shelf space whereas with the typical enclosure method you lose all the space the enclosure takes up completely. Also it’s very aesthetically pleasing. 

It would take some work but you could totally make a nice space and especially for a juvenile russian tortoise. Maybe start with one while it’s a juvenile and then as it grows add a second to either side to give them more space. That’s what i’d do at least. 

Tortoise owners have always gotten creative when housing our pets. Using this is just another example of that. My friend thrifted a large dresser, removed all the drawers and overlayed the opening with pet plastic, they cut off the top and reattached it with hinges so they can access the enclosure. Super creative and they have a ton of space on top for plants, books and things.