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 the Gazprom headquarters was accompanied by battles between city defenders and the authorities, because initially its construction was planned not in Lakhta on the shore Gulf of Finland, and in Malaya Okhta on the right bank of the Neva. The authorities believed that this would become a new symbol Northern capital, and the 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 high 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)

"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; meanwhile, the townspeople are concerned about development plans for 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 are being cut down, said the project’s executive director Alexander Bobkov in an interview with Fontanka.

Photo: courtesy of MFK Lakhta Center JSC

- 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 nothing can be hidden - 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 in 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 modeled 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 doesn't make the locals very happy. 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 installation and commissioning has increased significantly engineering systems. They do not use centralized delivery and drive their own cars.

Neither we nor the residents like the huge amount of personal vehicles parked 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 remains space for organized parking for personal vehicles. more space. That is, we are trying in every possible way to bring the situation back to normal.

"Fontanka.ru"

- 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 Russian Railways will be created right at the Lakhta site railroad station. It will be possible to get on at the 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. Until then there won't be this one transport infrastructure, 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 it 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 to 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 - to locate 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 area, 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 Lakhta Center opponents?

– In most cases, yes. Moreover, receiving feedback, we see clear acceptance by the majority of citizens of our project. 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, new height for St. Petersburg of the XXI century. The city landmark that was the Peter and Paul Fortress in the 18th century or St. Isaac's in the 19th century.

Interviewed by Ilya Kazakov,

"Fontanka.ru"

Construction of the complex has been completed. IN this moment Finishing, installation work and landscaping activities are being carried out inside the building. The opening was planned for the end of 2019.

Where is it located and how to get to Lakhta Center

Metro (“Begovaya”) is a 20-minute walk from the complex. Construction of a transport interchange on Primorskoe Highway is underway; the updated traffic pattern will be approved after the construction is completed. Also, a parking lot for several hundred cars will be built on the territory of the business center.

Architectural concept

The complex project was developed in 2011 by the European agency RMJM. The concept reflected the main architectural symbols of the city: cathedral spiers and the endless sky. The tower “spins” around its axis. The effect is created due to the fact that each new floor base rotates almost one degree relative to the axis of the tower.

Lakhta Center. Photo: news.yandex.kz

The skyscraper's special feature is multilayer thermo-reflective glass with a special matte gray-blue coating that changes color depending on the light intensity. During the day, with a cloudless sky and clear sun, the tower takes on a blue tint; in cloudy weather, it turns gray or bronze. The glazing is smooth, thanks to which a special optical effect is achieved - white clouds seem to rise along the wall of the structure.

What is inside

The following facilities will be located in the public and business complex:

• Panoramic restaurant. The two-level restaurant is located at an altitude of 320 meters. Even before the opening, the restaurant was named the tallest in Europe. The concept of the establishment is traditional Russian cuisine.
• A transformable hall is a space that can be divided into two rooms. The wall configuration and seating arrangement may change to suit the format of the event.
• Planetarium. An ultra-modern center with unique optical and digital equipment, designed for the simultaneous presence of 140 people. The planetarium is equipped with a 16-meter dome screen, which displays a 3D projection of the solar system. Guests will be able to take part in a space show and walk on the surface of Mars.

Planetarium project. Photo: lakhta.center

• Center for educational and scientific events. The exhibition area is 7 thousand square meters. meters. The center will host master classes, scientific seminars and lectures for a wide audience.
• Sports complex. In a space of 4.6 thousand square meters. meters there will be gyms and fitness rooms, SPA complexes, swimming pools and massage rooms.
• Medical Center. The multifunctional complex will provide high-quality medical services to residents of the Primorsky district in all areas.
• Atrium, shopping areas. Shops and retail outlets are located on the ground floor of the building. An exhibition space for expositions and art objects is open in the southern wing of the building.
• Offices. The main area of ​​the high-rise is reserved for work space. From 70 to 120 employees will be able to be present on one floor. A comfortable temperature and microclimate will be maintained by an intelligent system.

Panoramic platform Lakhta Center

On the 360th floor of the Lakhta Center tower there is an observation deck with telescopes for studying the historical part of the Northern capital and the Gulf of Finland. It is expected that the skyscraper site will become one of the most visited and beloved modern attractions of the city. Currently, a webcam is installed on the 360th floor, broadcasting a real-time panorama of the surrounding area. Elagin Island and the park named after Elagin are especially clearly visible. 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and the Zenit Arena stadium.

View of Lakhta Center. Photo: @lakhtacenter

The Lakhta Center became a symbol of St. Petersburg long before its opening. On the night of December 31 to January 1, 2019, bright green lights were lit on the façade of the building, thus turning the high-rise into a giant New Year tree for the city.

The high-rise business center under construction in St. Petersburg is often called the Gazprom tower. This building will be the tallest in the Northern capital and the second largest in Europe after the Ostankino Tower. The skyscraper is being built by Gazprom and will house the headquarters of this concern and its company.

We would like to remind you that the initial construction business center 400 meters high, it was planned to be carried out on a site of 4.7 hectares in the center of the Northern capital, which caused a sharp protest from city defenders and the public. The object fell into a protected zone where monuments included in the list of UNESCO sites are located.

Soon, the governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, canceled the decree allowing the developer to deviate from the permitted height of 100 meters in this place.

A new site of 14 hectares for the construction of the Lakhta tower is located in the north of St. Petersburg at the exit of the city between the Gulf of Finland and Primorskoye Highway. The distance from the construction site to the city center is about 10 km. According to experts, now the Lakhta Tower, although it will be visible from almost all areas of the city, will not cover the sights of St. Petersburg and dominate historical sites.

At the same time, the tower will be clearly visible from the sea; it will become a kind of lighthouse, welcoming those sailing into the city by sea. This will be a landmark object of the sea facade of the Northern capital.

Unlike the old project, in Lakhta Center, in addition to the office part, social infrastructure premises will be located.

The office part will occupy premises in the tower itself, and the buildings at its base will be used for social facilities - shops, sports and medical centers, a children's educational center and a planetarium.

At the top of the tower there will be an observation deck, a revolving restaurant and a conference room.

Lakhta Center Tower - brief description

The customer and investor of the project is Gazprom Neft, the construction project was completed by the British architectural bureau RMJM - Robert Matthew Johnson Marshal.

The general contractor is the Turkish company Renaissance Construction (created in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, founded by Turkish businessmen). Dozens of institutes and construction organizations are involved in the construction of the building.

The height of the building with the spire will be 462 meters, and the total weight of the tower with all the infrastructure, glazing and even furniture and people will be 670 thousand tons.

The area of ​​one office floor is from 668 to 2060 sq. m. meters.

From the side of the Gulf of Finland, the Lakhta Tower center will appear in all its splendor in the form of a spire soaring upward. It can also be compared to a drop of water flying upward.

Peter the Great conceived Petersburg as the sea capital of Russia. And according to the authors of the project, from afar, from the sea, the Lakhta center will look like a snow-white yacht.

The project includes several architectural highlights, the main ones being a modern planetarium and an outdoor amphitheater.

Planetarium

The planetarium, designed for 140 people, will occupy unusual place- at the height of the fifth floor of one of the buildings adjacent to the tower. It will look like a huge ball, which seems to have been thrown into the building with all its might, and it stuck to the facade. Of course, such a spectacular form of the building cannot but interest everyone who walks or drives by.

During the sessions, a variety of special effects will be used - a moving floor and illusions of lightning and rain, virtual smoke and smells.

Amphitheater

The idea of ​​​​creating an open amphitheater facing the sea is associated with the need for a smooth transition from the high roof to the water space. Here spectators will be able to admire water fountains and various shows on the water, as well as participate in theatrical performances and competitions.

• When laying the foundation, many principles were taken from nature. Thus, the piles at the base of the building, like the roots of a giant tree, go 82 meters into the ground. Above the piles, a “box-shaped” foundation 17 meters high was built, which guarantees the stability of the building
• The maximum permissible deviation of the structure from the vertical over the entire height is no more than 6 millimeters. Not to be confused with the vibration amplitude of a building during a storm wind
• Double-glazed windows have passed a variety of tests: under high pressure of water, air currents and fire. The glass is made using a special film that will not allow the glass to break into fragments
• All materials used in construction are non-flammable or fire resistant. But despite this, the evacuation of people was thought out as much as possible. In the event of a fire alarm, air is pumped into the central core, made of reinforced concrete, which prevents it from becoming smoke-filled. By moving to the central core, where there are stairs, a person is safe
• A special system will be used to wash windows, which moves along rails located on the ribs of the tower.
• In case of strong wind, the top of the building can deviate by 46 cm from the vertical, and at the level of the observation deck (at an altitude of 357 meters) the maximum deviation will be 27 cm
• To prevent birds from crashing into the windows, the double-glazed windows are edged with opaque material, and the glass itself is non-mirror. In addition, during mass flights of flocks, the lighting will be “scaring.” This way the birds will see the glass.

Adjacent territory

An entrance for office employees will be located on the east side of the building. This part of the complex will appear in the form of an arch with a span of 100 meters.

A pedestrian zone with a length of 8 km will begin on the south-eastern side. It will include a bridge and a huge space for holding mass celebrations and festive events.

The northern part of the territory will be used for various exhibitions, and in addition, in the future a railway platform and a metro station will be built here.

In addition, next to the tower there will be parking for tourist buses and the Poltava ship museum.

Transport infrastructure

In the future, it is planned to establish a transfer between the Lakhta center and the Chernaya Rechka and Staraya Derevnya metro stations. A metro station is expected to be built in 2025.

The development of transport infrastructure is primarily promoted by the World Cup. In 2018, the Begovaya metro station will be opened, one of the exits of which is located at a distance of just over a kilometer from the Lakhta center, that is, within walking distance.

The Lakhta Center Tower will become the center of the new business district of St. Petersburg, one might say Petersburg City, and the development of transport infrastructure will turn this undeveloped area of ​​the Northern capital into an example of a modern and high-quality urban environment. We would like to remind you that the facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018.

"Lakhta Center" - A public and business complex under construction in Lakhta, the historical part of the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg, the key object of which will be the headquarters of the state concern Gazprom.

The complex includes a skyscraper and a multifunctional building, divided by an atrium into the South and North blocks. total area premises - 400 thousand m. The project is planned to be fully completed in the 3rd quarter of 2018.

The skyscraper became the northernmost in the world and the tallest in Russia and Europe, 88 meters higher than the Moscow Federation Tower skyscraper, although in terms of number of floors it is inferior to it and the 100-story Grozny skyscraper “Akhmat Tower” under construction. If we take absolute height, then the Lakhta Center ranks second among the tallest buildings in Russia and Europe, second only to the 540-meter Ostankino TV tower. The height of the building is 462 meters with 87 floors, and 118 meters are for a spire made of metal structures weighing more than 2000 tons.

The architectural design of the completed Phase 1 complex, including the tower, was developed by the design team of JSC Gorproekt under the leadership of the chief architect of the project, Philip Nikandrov, who was a co-author and chief architect of the Okhta Center project (2006-2010). The interior design of the complex is being developed by the European bureau Exclusiva Design Srl, which in 2014 won an open competition to design the interiors of public areas of the mixed-use complex.

According to the concept, the interior of the Lakhta Center multifunctional complex will be designed in a futuristic style. The glazing of the tower will be smooth, without joints or edges. Thanks to this, an original optical effect will be achieved in the form of reflected clouds rising along the wall of the building. Double-glazed windows are parallelograms and triangles (in the corners). There is no window in the glazing, since the building is equipped with a climate control system. Two buildings located on the sides of the high-rise dominant will be built with a height difference from 22 to 85 meters.

Maximum high point of the southern building will be distant from the tower, and of the northern one, on the contrary, directed towards the tower and the city. In March 2017, the first three of a future forty elevators were launched. Between the elevators there will be transfer nodes from the lower zone to the middle one, and from the middle zone to the upper one. A shuttle is also planned, which will take passengers non-stop to observation deck.

Photos