International Architecture Awards Tell a friend
ARCHIVE 2023
International Architecture Awards
Architects: SPEECH architectural office
Lead Architects: Sergei Tchoban, Igor Chlenov, and Alexey Ilin
General Contractor: Spectrum Group
Client: Novatek
Photographers: Dmitry Chebanenko
The new Novatek office has been constructed near the existing company building. The main objective of this complex was to bring under one roof all of the structural divisions of the company, while still ensuring each one of them their relative independence. It was from this aspiration that the composition and layout of the complex arose: in front of us there is not just one building but in fact five different parts. They are arranged along the outer perimeter of the site, and its central area serves as an atrium, completely covered by a translucent free-standing roof. The difference in relief from Leninsky Prospekt towards this complex is almost 4 meters, which allowed for an additional floor to be arranged and this difference in elevation played into the landscaping design.
There is a conditional division of the complex into blocks: the first four above-ground floors and the basement floor make up the base of the building, consisting of two blocks with a corridor system, connected by a passageway: one block is elongated and slightly curved, the second has a ring shape and so the base viewed as a plan resembles the Russian letter “Ю” or a fish as the architects amongst themselves referred to this shape. On top of the base are five towers of varying heights, which diverge like petals in different directions and have a trapezoid shape with rounded corners. For convenience, the towers have been named the Latin letters A, B, C, D, and E, starting with the highest tower. The height of tower A is 12 floors from the roof of the base, including the technical floor, tower B - 8 floors, tower C - 6 floors, and towers D and E - 4 floors.
The maximum height of the complex is 67.5 meters (for comparison: the height of the first Novatek building is 46 meters). Management offices are located in the highest tower and there is a helipad on the roof. All five towers hang as cantilevers above the street and over the atrium. The cantilevered parts stretch outwards 10-15 meters. Plans for the atrium’s interior include installing art objects, temporary exhibitions, and a cafe.
The total area of the translucent roof spanning the atrium - a complex spatial structure - is over two thousand square meters, and it is only supported along the perimeter since it is assembled from triangular double-glazed windows, which makes the roof itself load-bearing. Spanish granite was used as the main material for the facade cladding. Rusticated stone bands 1200 mm in height run along the perimeter of the building between the floors and correspond to the rusticated vertical partitions on the adjacent office building. Windows and vertical walls are at a slight angle to the plane of the facade and form a zigzag line in the plan.
