Comparison of Lakhta Center with other skyscrapers. An entire city will stretch under the Lakhta Center tower

Now let's see how they build GAZPROM IGLOO

The whole story began with the project of the Okhta Center, or Gazprom City complex. The complex with a 396-meter skyscraper was planned to be tied to the Neva again - it was supposed to rise on the cape formed by the Neva and the Okhta River flowing into it. On the opposite side of the Neva is the famous Smolny Institute, which was once the headquarters of the Bolsheviks, and now serves as the residence of the governor of St. Petersburg. The project then caused a lot of noise, mostly unenthusiastic. The glass needle of the skyscraper was radically disharmonious with the architectural style of the St. Petersburg center, while creating a new high-rise dominant, competing with the spiers of the Admiralty and the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Such interference in the historical low-rise urban landscape seemed blasphemous to many.

In the end, the Okhta Center became the Lakhta Center: the construction of the Gazprom skyscraper, now 462 m high, was moved to the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. There are no urban developments nearby, and the historical center is as much as 9 km away, so the “needle” will no longer invade the recognizable outlines of old St. Petersburg. A complex of a high-rise building, an auxiliary building and an extensive recreational area scheduled to be completed in 2018, and then...

Is there any practical sense in constructing such tall buildings where there seems to be no shortage of land? Of course, Lakhta does not have the cramped conditions of American downtowns, but architecture is not always intended to perform a utilitarian function. Sometimes her task is to create symbols, objects of attraction. Historically, temples, which were supposed to rise above the surrounding buildings, became such centers of attraction. There was no other meaning in this except symbolic. When elevators appeared and cities began to grow rapidly, high-rise buildings became the leaders and dominants. Lakhta Center will welcome those traveling to St. Petersburg cruise ships and ferries, like the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, it will become a new symbol of the city, and this is precisely its main aesthetic task. This is what the authors of the project think.

Even those who are not good at geography probably remember: a city built in the delta rests on loose, water-soaked soil. Everyone remembers a branch of the St. Petersburg metro that was torn apart by quicksand for almost a decade. Unlike textbook Manhattan, which is essentially bare rock, in the St. Petersburg area the granite shield lies below 200 m, and it is unrealistic to rest a building on it. How to build a skyscraper here? It turns out that from the point of view of geotechnics - the science of soils - no monstrous difficulties arise in this case. In Malaysian Kuala Lumpur, where two twin super-skyscrapers were being built, the situation was even worse: the buildings stand on 120-meter stilts. Of course, it is too difficult to rest on the rocky ground in Lakhta - this would require piles of an unprecedented length in world practice, so we have to use ones that support the building due to frictional force. The upper layers of the soil are very loose, but already below 30 m the Vendian clays begin to be quite hard, and the piles are held securely in them.

The traditional construction of a skyscraper foundation is an array of piles on which a powerful slab rests. In principle, something similar has been done in Lakhta, but the foundation of the St. Petersburg skyscraper will have its own characteristics. It is a box-shaped structure buried in the ground to a depth of 17 m. Thus, the building will appear to be “sunk” in the ground, which will serve to more evenly distribute the weight of the structure and help avoid severe settlement of the skyscraper in the future.

The outer boundary of the foundation is a wall in the ground (in plan it is a regular pentagon, or pentagon). It is not a supporting element, but it protects the strength part of the foundation from soil pressure, and most importantly, from the seepage of groundwater. A pit is dug in the ground inside the wall, and to prevent the wall from collapsing, it is gradually reinforced with four reinforced concrete structures located on top of each other - the so-called spacer discs. When the pit is ready, the heads of the pre-installed piles are exposed. There are 264 piles, and the length of the most powerful of them is 82 m. At the bottom of the pit, a concrete slab resting on the heads is poured, and reinforcement for the main load-bearing structure - the lower foundation slab - is mounted on it. The designers did not have a shortage of space, and therefore they were able to support the building on a large foundation to ensure maximum stability.

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

The tragedy of the World Trade Center towers in New York, and especially the terrible picture of their collapse, is so clearly etched in the memory of each of us that the question “what will happen if???” arises quite naturally, as soon as we are talking about a new high-rise building. Here it should be remembered that the main customer of the complex is Gazprom, and we can say that this building is of strategic importance for our economy.

That is why the task was set to ensure the highest safety standards. In principle, the skyscraper will be built according to a well-known scheme: a cylindrical reinforced concrete core, floors, columns along the outer contour. The World Trade Center towers had approximately the same design. These were strong buildings, designed to withstand the impact of a Boeing 747, but the destruction of some power structures of the outer contour led to the progressive destruction of others, a domino effect was created, and as a result the skyscrapers collapsed. The high-rise building of Lakhta Center is designed in such a way that it can be supported by one core. You can blow up all ten columns along the outer contour, but even then the skyscraper will stand. This is a real fortress, which, according to the architects, should survive many decades.

The stability of the structure is ensured by a special scheme for redistributing the load of the external contour of the building to the core. Every 16 floors, ten powerful consoles extend from the reinforced concrete core - a kind of hanging foundations on which a section of the building will additionally rest. There are four such outrigger levels in the skyscraper.

As a result, Lakhta Center will have a safety margin unique among buildings of this kind, significantly exceeding established international standards.

The reluctance to save on safety does not mean that the idea of ​​increasing the efficiency of a structure and reducing operating costs is completely alien to the authors of the project. On the contrary, it is very important for Gazprom, given that it is building a building “for itself,” to remain committed to modern energy saving technologies, especially in the harsh St. Petersburg climate. For example, the building will receive a double façade, that is, there will be an insulating layer of air between two strands of glazing. The heating system will use such highly economical devices as infrared emitters. In addition, the heat accumulated in the building from operating computers and other office equipment will be removed and then used in the heating system. The air conditioning system has its own peculiarities - it is based not on the usual scheme for removing heat from the room to the outside, but on cold accumulators placed underground, which can produce up to 1000 tons of ice per night, and then release its cold to the rooms during the day. Occupancy sensors will also become widespread, which will turn off lighting fixtures when there is no one in the room.

But will the building be habitable from the bottom floors to the very top? High-rise buildings erected for purely commercial purposes are often inhabited from top to bottom, and there are no “excesses” there. However, if we are talking about a symbol, be it the Moscow State University building on Sparrow Hills in Moscow or the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, a significant part of their height is an uninhabited spire, designed to give the structure aesthetic completeness. Despite the fact that the height of the Lakhta Center skyscraper will be 462 m, all inhabited floors will be below the 400 m mark. Anything higher is an architectural element that will help the building serve as a city landmark and decoration of the sea gates of St. Petersburg.

The skyscraper in Lakhta will have a helical shape, that is, its facades will have a rather complex and asymmetrical surface. Particularly interesting is the use of cold-formed glass, which makes the glazing absolutely smooth. Together with the double facade, this will give unusual optical effects - for example, the reflection of clouds, as if rising diagonally along the wall of the building.

Photo 4.

The construction of a business and public center in Lakhta is not only an attempt to turn St. Petersburg to the sea with a “human face,” but also a desire to follow the centrifugal trend in modern urban planning. New business parks are being created away from dense urban areas; there are large areas and there are no problems with parking. The flow of cars to the Lakhta Center will always be in antiphase with the flow that moves to the city center in the morning and rushes to the outskirts and suburbs in the evening. This will partially unload historical center Petersburg, and business activity in the Lakhta Center, on the contrary, is intensifying. Of course, the accessibility of Lakhta Center will be ensured not only for motorists, but also for those who use public transport: the complex will be connected to the city center by a metro line.

However, the purpose of Lakhta Center goes far beyond the task of providing the city with additional office space. In the skyscraper and in the auxiliary building, the project provides not only business premises, but big center entertaining science for children, conference rooms, exhibition spaces, sports and medical complexes, cafes, restaurants, shops and even an ultra-modern planetarium. The vast surrounding area will include public gardens, parks, walking paths and an amphitheater overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

We can say that the history of Lakhta Center is connected not only with urban planning and architecture. After all, it so happened that the clash of interests of a large national corporation and the aspirations of civil society Northern capital regarding the Okhta Center did not lead to the triumph of one side to the detriment of the other, but to a new quality and to a new stage in the development of St. Petersburg.

Photo 5.

Construction of a high-rise building in the area of ​​a deep river delta is a difficult task, but not impossible. The upper layers of the soil have quicksand properties, but at a depth of 30 m there are so-called Vendian clays, which are comparable in hardness to natural stone. In this regard, it became possible to replace the slotted foundations with bored piles, which will support the building not due to support on the rock, but due to the force of friction. The piles, the most powerful of which reach a length of 82 m, are not driven, but installed. Such piles are called bored piles: first, a well is drilled, then a casing pipe is lowered into it (so that the walls of the well do not crumble), reinforcement is installed inside the pipe, and then concrete is poured.

Photo 6.

Photo 7.

Photo 8.

Photo 9.

Photo 10.

Photo 11.

Photo 12.

Photo 13.

Photo 14.

Photo 15.

Photo 16.

Photo 17.

Photo 18.

Photo 19.

Photo 20.

Photo 21.

Photo 22.

Photo 23.

Photo 24.

Photo 25.

Photo 26.

Photo 27.

Photo 28.

Photo 29.

Photo 30.

Photo 31.

"Lakhta Center": "As future residents of Lakhta, we first need a comfortable environment"

The Gazprom tower will take on a finished form by the end of the year, while the townspeople are concerned about plans for the development of the surrounding areas. Fontanka studied the city plan, went to the area and received first-hand answers to questions.

The Lakhta Center tower will be completed within a year. When road junctions appear nearby, an amphitheater, an international-level yacht club and the tennis academy founded by Poltavchenko will open, where the park “disappeared” from the project images and why the trees were cut down, said the project’s executive director, Alexander Bobkov, in an interview with Fontanka.

- When will Lakhta Center be commissioned? Are there any delays?

“You can already see how the construction is progressing with the naked eye; at this stage there is nothing to hide - no delays, no gaps ahead. We plan to complete the main construction and installation work by the end of 2017, which will form the final architectural image of our complex. From now on, everyone will be able to see him as he was intended. And in 2018, we will complete the interior work and landscaping in order to commission the complex in the fall of next year.

- Could new American sanctions affect the pace of construction?

– The main foreign equipment that we needed has already been purchased, and we do not fall under the criteria described in the sanctions conditions. So emotionally this is all unpleasant, but objectively we have no reason to worry.

- When will Gazprom structures begin to move into the complex?

– This question is more for tenants who independently arrange internal spaces outside the common areas of the center. They are already seriously working on this issue, design is underway, and I think that during 2019 the main move of Gazprom structures to the complex will be completed.

- Will Gazprom President Alexey Miller also move to the tower?

– The building has a block for the company’s management, including a place where the chairman of the board can work.

Smolny promised to build road junctions near the Lakhta Center before its construction is completed in 2018. How do you assess the fulfillment of these obligations?

– As such, the city authorities never had any obligations to Gazprom. There was responsibility to the townspeople, in particular residents of the Primorsky district. Plans for road infrastructure facilities were announced back in 2009, three years before our appearance on the site. Unfortunately, the speed of their implementation is lower than we would like. We hope that next year work will begin on the construction of an overpass between Primorskoye Highway and the territory of the southern part of the Lakhta-Olgino village, as well as several auxiliary roads. According to the data we have, similar facilities are usually built within two years.

- So, the interchange will appear after the opening of the Lakhta Center, and the area will still be stuck in traffic jams?

– We simulated the transport situation in the Lakhta Center area and found out that the project will not cause damage to the current transport infrastructure. The traffic flows that our complex will generate are reversible. While in the morning residents of residential areas will go to work in the center of St. Petersburg, our workers will head along the almost empty Primorskoye Highway to work towards Lakhta. And a similar situation will repeat in the evening, when our employees will be driving home to the center at 18-19 hours, and the highway will be stuck in a traffic jam from the city.

Currently, 11 thousand people work at the facility. You can see parked cars all around, which is not very encouraging local residents. How do you solve this problem?

– Already at the initial stage of construction, we organized the transportation of workers by buses. This is what happens now. But at the current stage, the number of highly qualified personnel involved in the installation and commissioning of engineering systems has increased significantly. They do not use centralized delivery and drive their own cars.

Neither we nor the residents like the huge amount personal transport, which stands on lawns and along roads. We are trying to resolve this issue in direct communication with the general contractor: we include clauses in the contract that he must ensure order not only on the site, but also around it; We insist that the number of buses be increased; we ourselves work with the police. We are trying to organize construction camps more “vertically” so that there is more space for organized parking of personal vehicles. That is, we are trying in every possible way to bring the situation back to normal.

- And after the center is commissioned, where will the cars of 10 thousand employees and visitors go?

“For the future, we have a spacious underground parking lot, more than 2,200 parking spaces, right under the center tower, and after its opening, the cars of employees and guests will not go beyond the red lines of the facility.

- There are five times fewer places than workers...

– You need to understand that a significant part of the complex’s employees are by no means white-collar workers or “automotive” people. They will travel by public transport.

- What kind of transport?

– A new railway station will be created right at the Lakhta site of the Russian Railways. It will be possible to sit on Finlyandsky station and quickly get to the Lakhta Center area. Russian Railways are ready to begin work within a year. And in the future, there are plans to restore the double-track line in this direction that was in this area 100 years ago. Hopefully we will see these changes by 2020. In the meantime, until this transport infrastructure exists, a continuous transportation of people from the Begovaya station by shuttles will be organized.

- How will tourists get there?

– We expect that tourists will arrive by water - deep-draft ships of the Moscow type will stop at the Hercules port, and smaller water taxis will berth directly next to the tower.

Local residents complain that Gazprom promised to build them a park. He appeared in the first images of the project. Now in its place are new buildings of the complex. How did this happen?

– We are located on the territory of a former industrial zone. Here before us there were sand dunes with dredges and storms raged in windy weather. This is all about the question of “the destroyed park and when will we return it.” It never existed.

According to the original Lakhta Center project, part of our land plot a recreational area was provided, which is now called a park by residents, because in the pictures it looked green and well-maintained. But after the decision was made to move Gazprom entirely, a project for an office complex arose in this place, which would accommodate additional staff. This is the story of a lost principality that never existed.

- That is, there will be no compensation for residents instead of the mythical park?

“We are not building a residential complex, and the policy of “even a flood after us” is not applicable here. We are going to live here. Accordingly, we are the most interested people in making it comfortable here: for us, for our closest neighbors, and for the numerous guests of the complex.

What we can definitely talk about now is the Eastern and Southern embankments at the Lakhta Center, which in area, landscaping and level of comfort will be comparable to a park. Next to us, it is planned to completely reconstruct and create an international sailing center on the basis of the Hercules yacht club, with all the infrastructure - a hotel and a tower for observing regattas. Also, to the west of our site it is planned to build a tennis academy, to the east - an eco-gallery and the museum-ship "Poltava". A large amphitheater is currently being built near the Lakhta Center, which can accommodate several thousand people.

In essence, the industrial area will turn into an open, comfortable environment. The project will be absolutely open, and everyone will have access to it.

- Fontanka wrote about the start of construction of the yacht club and tennis academy back in 2013. Why didn't they start?

– As far as I know (these projects are not being implemented by our structure), delays occur partly due to changes in land use legislation, partly due to a two-year delay in the adoption of the city’s master plan. The general budget situation did not contribute to rapid construction either. But no one has canceled the projects, and they will be implemented.

As far as can be seen on the city plan, it is in these areas that the overgrowth that is so disturbing to local residents is currently being cut down?

– Yes, but we are actually doing the work. We are currently renting part of the territory, which is intended for the construction of a transport interchange and sports and leisure infrastructure, from the city and will temporarily use it to organize the construction process. And then we’ll put it in order and hand it back to the city already prepared. This way, we hope it will be possible to save some time.

- Are you able to build a dialogue with opponents of Lakhta Center?

– In most cases, yes. Moreover, when receiving feedback, we see clear acceptance of our project by the majority of citizens. But it happens that constructive dialogue does not work out because individual people have their own sense of inner dreams.

- Do you mean an alternative project of one of the local activists?

- Exactly. At the current stage, he proposes to create, for example, a beach named after Alexander Blok instead of the embankment. Or make a ready-made amphitheater a little differently and in a different place.

- Is it possible to compare the defenders of Okhta with the activists of Lakhta?

- No, it was completely different there. Okhta was a real city referendum. It really was a battle of opinions. Today's conversations in comparison are like a battle between Nanai boys and a professional boxing match.

By the way, in April it was also said that Gazprom was negotiating with Smolny about exchanging a site in Okhta for another. How did it end?

– We are not currently at the stage of negotiations on the exchange of plots with the city. We are looking for a project that would definitely beautify this place, and would not want it to be given over to a standard residential development. For ourselves, we see a social and business center there, perhaps with a residential component. This place is worthy of a landmark project.

Considering that Gazprom is now conducting a dialogue with all kinds of activists regarding the Lakhta Center, does this mean that the company has learned from the experience at Okhta?

– Of course, from the point of view of shaping public opinion, St. Petersburg is a special city. There are truly authoritative, recognized opinion leaders here, and any large development projects need a comprehensive assessment. When building the Lakhta Center, we strive to approach our plans as carefully as possible, taking into account the needs of citizens and even, to a certain extent, looking into the future. But these 4 years of construction, I believe, we were as open as possible, and everyone who wanted to participate was able to do so.

But it still failed to reconcile all St. Petersburg residents with the new dominant, which is visible even from the Peter and Paul Fortress...

– The urban environment of St. Petersburg is quite conservative. In this sense, it is a question of introducing something new, futuristic, into a habitat that is familiar to the residents of St. Petersburg. It is truly a difficult task to create new architecture in a classic city with one project.

But we hope that Lakhta Center will become a new attraction, a new height for St. Petersburg of the 21st century. The city landmark that was Peter and Paul Fortress in the 18th century or Isaac in the 19th century.

Interviewed by Ilya Kazakov,

"Fontanka.ru"

It’s hard to imagine beautiful St. Petersburg as a city of skyscrapers, but high-rise construction is rapidly breaking into the city of Petra. Its first “swallow” will soon be the majestic Lakhta Center. At the same time, the Leningrad Tower will not be an ordinary skyscraper, but the second tallest among similar Russian and European buildings, surpassing the “Federation” in “Moscow City” and second only to While the building is under construction, there is time to find out interesting details about it.

General idea of ​​the project

"Lakhta center", "Lakhta center" (both spellings are correct) - located in at the moment at the construction stage of a public and business complex. Its scale explains the fact that the key object of the skyscraper will be the headquarters of the largest Russian corporation Gazprom. The location of the complex is Primorsky. Construction of the tower began in 2012. Its full completion is planned for the third quarter of 2018.

The maximum planned height of the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg with an antenna/spire is 462 m. Upper level the very top floor will be located 372 m above the ground. The weight of the structure with filling will be 670 thousand tons. The complex will include not only a tower, but also a multifunctional building, which will divide into northern and southern part atrium. Total area of the future building will be 400 thousand m 2. How many floors are there in the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg? The final number will be 87. The building will be served by 102 elevators.

Tower construction progress

Let's touch on the key stages of the construction of the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg:

• 2013 - a pit was dug for the building.
• 2014 - completion of work on the construction of the pit, start of driving piles.
• 2015 - completion of the so-called construction: production of a box foundation, reinforcement and concreting of minus floors.
• 2015-2016 - construction of the first 50 floors of the skyscraper and 7 floors of the MFZ.
• February 2017 - the 60th floor (260 m) was built.
• April 2017 - work on the construction of the 67th floor (300 m).
• May 10, 2017 - having reached 327.6 m and 78 floors, the skyscraper became the tallest building in the northern capital, “overtaking” the TV tower. The latter held this title for 55 years.

Concept of the Lakhta Center project

According to the project team, this tower, aimed at the sky like a rocket at the start, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, will form new standards of living for the city with its appearance and content:

• developed social infrastructure;
• modern offices that meet all global environmental requirements;
• comfortable public spaces;
• abundance of green areas;
• pedestrian and transport accessibility.

The main task of the so-called Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg is to rid the historical center of business and business activity, and at the same time the dominance of transport, by moving the focus of this activity to the outskirts of the city. The skyscraper will not only help the second capital move to a polycentric development model, but also attract significant investment, create new high-paying jobs, and create all the conditions for business development.

Architectural solutions

St. Petersburg is a city of skylines, not high-rises. All of its historical high-rise buildings - St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Cathedral - are central points around which independent and integral structures are built. Therefore, in order not to spoil the appearance of the museum city, it was decided to build a skyscraper that would house the headquarters of the state concern Gazprom, on the coast of the Finnish bay, away from historical buildings.

The tower is intended to begin to form the “sea façade” of St. Petersburg. Its appearance does not at all conflict with the “face” of the city - the same theme of a lonely spire on the horizon, the aspiration upward, the contours of buildings reminiscent of the outlines of ship hulls.

The shape of the Lakhta Center, as conceived by the architects, should visualize openness, lightness, freedom, the flow of spaces and the energy of the sea. They strive to give the complex the effect of weightlessness and organic unity with the surrounding city and nature. A special type of double-glazed windows will help with this, which will allow the building to change its color depending on the mood of the sky.

What will happen inside the complex

The popular name of Lakhta Center - Gazprom Tower - is not entirely correct. The design of the “filling” of the complex is striking in its versatility:

• Only 43% of the total area is planned to be allocated for office space.
• 2.5 thousand m2 will be occupied by a medical center.
• 7 thousand m2 is guaranteed to be provided to the children's scientific and educational center "World of Science", which will include lecture halls, laboratories, and an exploratorium.
• It is planned to open a planetarium in the building, in which 140 people will be able to simultaneously observe celestial bodies.
• It is planned to build a transforming multifunctional auditorium designed for almost 500 people.
• Floors 74-76 (330 m) are planned to be allocated for a two-story panoramic restaurant.
• At an altitude of 357 m above the ground, on the 83-86 floors there will be an observation deck equipped with powerful telescopes.
• The MFZ will allocate 1.5 thousand m2 for exhibition space.
• It is also planned to build an impressive amphitheater with 2,000 seats. Its stage, with an area of ​​almost 1.5 thousand m2, will host various water shows.
• The complex will also include an indoor footbridge, which will connect the Lakhta Center space with the city’s 300th anniversary park.

Other characteristics

Let's get acquainted with the interesting technical and design features of the Gazprom tower in St. Petersburg:

• The skyscraper stands on 264 piles, each of which has a diameter of 2 m and a depth of 82 m.
• The reinforced concrete core is responsible for the stability of the tower.
• The horizontal rigidity of the skyscraper is achieved through outrigger floors - there will be 4 pairs of them in total. The outriggers will maintain the stability of the tower even if it loses 30% of its supporting structures.
• Cold-formed glass technology is responsible for the innovative three-dimensional curvature of the complex's facades.
• The lighting of the Lakhta Center is made up of light “pixels”. Their color will depend on the season of the year.
• The waste will be disposed of using an innovative waste removal system.
• It is planned to open a metro station next to the complex under the working name "Lakhta".

Finally, let's look at some interesting facts related to the St. Petersburg tower:

• The concreting of the bottom slab of the skyscraper's foundation was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest continuous pour of concrete in the world. It lasted 49 hours, during which 19,624 cubic meters of concrete were poured.
• 400 thousand cubic meters of concrete will be spent on the construction of the entire complex.
• The area of ​​the tower's glass surface will be 77 thousand m2. The weight of each double-glazed window is more than 700 kg.
• In July 2016, the skyscraper became the tallest building in St. Petersburg. He was able to achieve this title in just 10 months.
• In August of the same year, Lakhta Center became the northernmost skyscraper in the world.

Surprisingly, Russia's tallest skyscraper will be located in St. Petersburg, the city of skylines. In addition to its height, the Lakhta Center project amazes with its versatility, thoughtful concept and organic architectural design.

The Lakhta Center skyscraper rose 35 floors (147 meters) and set a new record among all buildings in St. Petersburg.
There is one building higher - the TV tower, but that doesn't count. In addition, in 2017 the building will be 2 times higher, and by 2018 the height of the skyscraper will be 462 meters. It will be taller than the Federation Tower in the Moscow City business center in the capital and will become the tallest building in Europe.

Until now, the city record belonged to the Leader Tower, which glows in the Moscow district, which, by the way, is the tallest building in the world in northern latitudes. Of the historical buildings, the leader is the Peter and Paul Cathedral with its 122 and a half meters, conceived as the main dominant feature of the city. But technology is stronger.

Let us recall that the construction of Gazprom’s headquarters was accompanied by battles between city defenders and the authorities, because initially its construction was planned not in Lakhta on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, but in Malaya Okhta on the right bank of the Neva. The authorities believed that this would become a new symbol of the Northern capital, and residents were against the tower almost in the center. Now people and authorities have agreed. It is planned that the “mega-structure” will attract financial tycoons from all over the world. It has already been included in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest foundation in the world. It was flooded non-stop for 49 hours. Lakhta Center today
Lakhta Center as planned in 2018
Record-breaking foundation of Lakhta Center
Construction plan
Internal view of Lakhta Center according to plan
The most tall building in the northern latitudes of the world - “Leader Tower” on the square. Constitution
The architectural dominant of the Northern capital until 1962 (that year the TV tower was built)

04/05/2017

Lakhta Center will be completed by the fall of 2018. Construction is going according to plan and will be completed on time, the company assures. But neither additional roads, nor interchanges, nor crossings necessary for transport support for the skyscraper will be built on time. How will people and cars get to it and what will this mean for St. Petersburg? – Alexander BOBKOV, executive director of JSC Multifunctional Complex Lakhta Center, told City 812.

Sh osse with a turn

I asked your press secretary how to get to Lakhta Center without a car, and heard the answer: “Let us pick you up ourselves.” How will employees and visitors get here after the opening?

After opening, you can get to us the same way as all residents of Lakhta today - by buses, minibus taxis along Primorskoye Highway. IN summer period Aquabuses will walk on the water. Plus, we will launch free shuttle buses to the nearest Begovaya metro station, which will open for the World Cup. And we are always happy to bring the press to the construction site.

According to official information, more than eight thousand employees will work in Gazprom offices alone. Plus service personnel, plus tourists. This is already tens of thousands of people. At least two thousand of them will travel in private cars along the Primorskoye Highway. It is already busy, but it will turn into a highway traffic jam. What to do?

Look at the diagram. We will, of course, build all the infrastructure inside our block - entrances, parking exits, intra-block roads. For transport infrastructure, adjacent to the Lakhta Center mixed-use complex, is the responsibility of the city. When we were choosing a place for construction, we naively believed in the General Plan. In it, long before us, U-turns on the Primorskoye Highway and a large interchange near the (then non-existent) Lakhta Center were already planned (in the yellow oval on the diagram - Ed.). With the opening of the Lakhta Center, the city must ensure the connection of our quarter to the Primorskoye Highway using an overpass through the Lakhtinskaya Harbor (in the diagram - in the red oval - Ed.). I can’t say that all this will be done before the opening.

- What will be done?

By June 2017, the arrangement of two U-turns on Primorskoe Highway should be completed (green “circles” on the diagram). They were planned to be made back in 2014, then in 2015, 2016... Now fifty percent of them are ready. In one of them, you only need to move the curb and paint over the double solid line so that you can turn towards the area. The project for connecting the South Lakhta quarter (where Lakhta Center is located) to the Primorskoye Highway will be sent for examination in May. But when we will see its physical embodiment is unknown. These are questions for the city. Naturally, the two existing entrances to the Lakhta Center territory will be expanded and improved. But I would like the city to implement its plans within the stated time frame.

How much will it cost to connect Lakhta Center to Primorskoe Highway? The deputies announced the figure of 12 billion.

The cost of constructing this interchange with an overpass, according to information from city committees, is at least three times less.

- In Smolny they say that there is no money for this.

There is money, it’s just distributed among other objects.

The city authorities sent an application for co-financing of this project from the federal budget back in the fall. Is there already a response from Moscow?

We don’t know about this, but I can assume that the first question from the feds when considering such applications is: “Do you have documentation?” And the documentation for this project will appear no earlier than May, after passing the state examination. Therefore, the decision is probably postponed and awaits delivery of documentation.

About a year ago they said that the Novaya Lakhta station would be built opposite the Lakhta Center on the existing railway line. At what stage are these plans?

Oktyabrskaya railway ready to start construction new station at least now. It will take 9-11 months. But the fact is that a station without a pedestrian crossing to the Lakhta Center via Primorskoe Highway - underground or overground - loses its meaning. Unfortunately, the city has not yet found funds for its construction. Although it is in the planning project.

Need more offices

- Near the Lakhta Center, Gazprom PJSC is implementing another construction project. What will happen there?

Office center. It will be smaller in size than ours, but the area per workplace will be larger. Accordingly, about 1000-1200 people will still fit there.

Two years ago you said that Lakhta Center would have more public space than offices. And now you are giving two-thirds of the space to offices. Why is this so?

We abandoned the hotel in favor of office space, as there was not enough of it. At the same time, all the iconic public facilities of the complex have been preserved. It should be taken into account that a significant part of the complex - 25-27% - is occupied by parking.

- How many cars is it designed for?

For 2000 cars. Plus there will be approximately 890 more places on the adjacent site.

- Is this enough?

More than that. I hope that not all employees will drive to work. According to the regulations, there is one parking space per 100 square meters of offices. We have one parking space per 60 square meters.

- Will parking be paid?

Most likely it will be some kind of mix. Those who come to our concert or to the planetarium will be able to leave their car for free.

What besides offices will appear in Lakhta Center? How many non-Gazprom visitors do you expect to come and why?

We believe that we are guaranteed a flow of tourists of 400-600 thousand people annually. Since on observation deck Everyone will want to come. A long atrium promenade will appear between the two buildings of the multifunctional building. It will house the entrance to the planetarium, a children's science center, a transforming hall, street retail, cafes and restaurants, as well as elevators to the office floors. We want to make this public area as comfortable as possible, but at the same time complementary to the business area.

- Already have an agreement with the tenants? What kind of public catering and what kind of trade will appear?

There are many applications, and there is a short list (in fact, a long list) of companies with which negotiations are underway. We want to get tenants who, like us, understand what it is non-standard place and a unique environmental object. We will not have full-fledged trade, and we would not like to see standard fast food here. A panoramic restaurant will be located between the 74th and 76th floors of the tower. The operator has not yet been chosen, but all the leaders in this industry - name anyone! - show interest.

The weather is very disappointing