Lakhta Center Sets New Standards
The second year in St. Petersburg being built the largest in the Russia multifunctional public and business complex, which includes the tallest building in Europe. Its name – Lakhta Center – is already widely known in Russia. At the same time, among overseas professionals so far very few people heard about the project. We asked the Chief Architect of the Lakhta Center and GORPROJECT CJSC – Philip Nikandrov to share with us the construction details.
Philip, after a great number of publications about the Okhta Center about the Lakhta Center is written relatively little. What is the reason in your opinion?
Yes, indeed. For example, at the Conference held by the CTBUH (Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) last September in Shanghai on the Lakhta Center at exhibitions and in publications of the Council was given a very bit of information. Lakhta Center seems to be forgotten, not paid a lot of attention in the international media. Really, all the necessary construction approvals are long obtained, works at the site are conducted in the regular mode, the dust settled. That, in my opinion, it’s great, because now we can focus on the real work without being distracted by the overhyped media buzz and “black PR”, which at one time was fanned around the Okhta Center project.
After its reincarnation into “Lakhta”, the project builder and developer Social and Business Center Okhta (wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom Neft), on the one hand, sees no need to spend money on highprofile international PR-company. This is understandable – it is not looking for tenants and buyers for the future building, from the very beginning it has its owner and future user – Gazprom Group of Companies). On the other hand – the developer does not hide anything about the construction of the complex – the latest news about the project and its development can always be found on the website www.proektvlahte. ru, which has already existed for more than three years.
How much the Lakhta Center project is changed, how is it different from the Okhta Center?
Creative team of architects from GORPROJECT CJSC has set a new architectural concept, which is based on some compositional ideas and stylistic elements from the previous iterations of the project for Okhta and Lakhta, originally developed in the period of my work as the Chief Architect of this project for the British company RMJM from 2006 to 2011. At the same time the project is altered so that the new geometry forms, architectural, technical and engineering solutions reflecting the latest innovations in the construction industry, in fact, have not kept a single line, a single drawing and a single system of previous solutions, but still remained a spirit of the original idea of the spire-tower – its silhouette reminiscent the flame symbolizing Gazprom.
There were completely changed the foundations structural design, the overground part of the tower and of the stylobate, the skyscraper’s facade articulation and its facade systems, as well as engineering and vertical transportation scheme. The project adjustment was dictated by changes in its functionality, new conditions of the construction site, the improvement of the regulatory framework of the Russian Federation, and new products in the construction market. And the design process itself was perfected over the years, now we operate with parametric modeling programs (BIM), creating a virtual building complex in 3D environment.
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Text: Philip Nikandrov, photos courtesy of Gorproject CJSC