An entire city will stretch under the Lakhta Center tower. Gazprom Business Center

The 400-meter skyscraper of the Gazprom Neft company will be completed by spring 2018. The Dubai company Arabtec Holding became the contractor for the “zero” cycle of work, namely the construction of walls in the ground and a pile field for the tower.

The total construction area will be 330 thousand square meters. The skyscraper will house the headquarters of Gazprom Neft and other offices, as well as a children's educational center, a planetarium, a conference hall with 500 seats, a sports complex, galleries, cafes and restaurants, shopping areas and much more. A third of the site will be occupied by green areas and cultural objects.

Plans include: a giant parking lot for 2,000 cars, an amphitheater facing the water, and a high-rise observation deck. Lakhta Center and the 300th Anniversary Park will be connected by a covered pedestrian bridge.

Previously, Gazprom wanted to build its gigantic business center on Cape Okhtinsky, directly opposite the Smolny Cathedral. A protest campaign carried out by city defenders forced a change in plans. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak called the decision to move construction to the Lakhta region a “compromise”. However, city defenders do not agree with this assessment.

Historical environment in Lakhta? Do you know our city well? The city center is far away, the issue is simply not relevant now.

- Local city defenders continue to insist that the tower will become a dominant feature and will cover something. According to the project, it is 462 meters in height.

In fact, the height of the tower is 462.7 meters. How to understand the statement of city defenders that the tower will cover something? Blocking the view of Primorskoye Highway? View of residential development? Does this concern you? It will be visible against the background of other objects - I agree, but it will definitely not cover or dominate significant historical objects. If the house is beautiful, why strive to ensure that no one sees it? Our project is very beautiful, the time will come when everyone will be proud of it.

I saw one photoshopper. The picture showed our tower against the background of the Bronze Horseman and the caption: “See what the angle is, everything is ruined there, it’s impossible to take a photo.” I don’t know... I myself have photographed myself many times next to the Bronze Horseman, but I have never photographed the statue from the tail side. Why do people care?

- What is the most important difference between the Lakhta Center project and the notorious Okhta Center?

These are fundamentally different projects. A simple business center was designed on Okhta - a tower with office premises. In fact, it turned out to be a closed space, a thing in itself. An employee would come there, work, get everything he needs, and at the end of the working day go home.

The rest of the townspeople could go to the Okhta Center to visit the observation deck or sit in the revolving restaurant on the 74th floor.

It was not intended to create social infrastructure in the Okhta Center, but the Lakhta Center provides for a very large volume of additional functions, which, in terms of area ratio, will dominate the office component.

The main volume of offices in the Lakhta Center is located in the tower, and underneath it there will be a whole city for residents of nearby areas and tourists. The public component of the project includes sports and medical centers, shops, conference rooms, an entertaining science center for children and a planetarium.

- How did the idea with the planetarium come about?

Architects always strive to offer some kind of feature, a zest. We have several of them on our project. The idea of a planetarium was not born immediately. We had a multi-light space provided, and we were all thinking about how to make the best use of it. We worked on this issue for a month and a half, and then - time! And the planetarium was born! A huge ball, which seemed to have been thrown at full force into the building, and it stuck to the facade. Very impressive. It will be visible both from the street and from passing cars, it will become another reason for people to come to us.

- Has the tower itself become larger than the Okhta Center project?

The tower became taller, larger in diameter, changed in shape and structure. This is a completely new project. Outwardly, there are some similarities, it seems like yes, it’s the same tower, but in fact the towers are completely different.

- Are there design differences?

The basic design diagram remained unchanged, we were only able to optimize and reduce the number of technical floors, were able to abandon some columns, and simplified the beam system. And in the Lakhta project, decisions on organizing construction have changed significantly, new technologies have been applied. Currently, we have successfully completed work on the arrangement of the pile foundation of the tower and multifunctional building. In Lakhta, bored piles with a diameter of 2 meters were laid under a high-rise building, and in Okhta, foundations in the form of barettes were provided, which are much more expensive. This became possible because the soil situation in the new location is much better. Thanks to this and other optimization solutions, we achieve good financial savings per square meter.

- What are the parameters of the tower?

The office part will occupy about 120 thousand square meters, and the total usable area will be approximately 200 thousand square meters.

The tower is an office tower, and everything connected with it is the maintenance of office premises. The top of the tower was created for public functions, there is an observation deck, a revolving restaurant and a conference room area that can be rented out for short-term rent for any events. The rest are the offices of our investor.

- Do you plan to rent out space to other companies?

Currently, everything is being done to suit the needs of the investor, but perhaps some areas will be rented out to third-party tenants.

- The project on the official website involves placing a complex of apartments in the building, will these premises also not be sold?

Not an apartment complex, but a hotel with two hundred rooms, a simple four-star hotel. Can you imagine how many business trips we have? We need to place them somewhere. This is the headquarters.

- That is, the apartments will not be purchased by anyone, including the company’s top management?

No. This is a clean hotel with its own logistics solutions, delivery and cleaning of premises. If there were apartments for sale there, we would change a lot in the project.

- Tell us about the space around the tower.

On the adjacent territory of the business district there is parking for tourist buses, there is access to the berthing structure, and a museum complex “Poltava” will appear.

The entrance lobbies in the Eastern part are intended for employees; they are decorated with a very beautiful arch, a span of 99 meters, a unique engineering structure. Business and tourist life will unfold around this arch.

From the south-eastern part of our territory, a large walking area begins, stretching along a pedestrian bridge to the park of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. The walking route will be about 8 kilometers; the issue of building a pedestrian bridge to Krestovsky Island is being considered.

The pedestrian zone is not 1.5 meter wide paths, it is a space where any events could be held, up to the May demonstrations. There is an amphitheater in the southern part of our territory.

- Can you tell me a little more about the amphitheater?

The amphitheater appeared in the project by accident. There was a very complex volumetric-spatial solution for the roof of a covered parking lot. It was necessary to create a smooth transition from the highest level of the roof to the water, and our architect proposed placing an amphitheater for 2 thousand people. We happily agreed, and we had one more “trick”.

As a result, we got a space where we can hold any events related to open air and water. We want it to be possible to watch water fountains, water shows, theatrical performances, competitions from the amphitheater...

The northern part of the territory will be used to ensure pedestrian accessibility. There will be railway platforms and a metro station. We plan to hold open-air exhibitions on Northern Square.

- The lake also appeared in the project on the official website

Is the water of the Gulf of Finland not enough for you? There was no lake, there were and are expanses of water, but this is something completely different. The water surfaces did not appear by chance. We carried out aerodynamic tests to determine the wind loads on the tower itself, as well as the comfort level of pedestrian areas.

As a result of this work, we have identified areas where very strong winds are possible due to downward air currents. We marked these zones in red on the plan, and then changed the “red” to “blue” and made a water surface there. People will not walk through these zones, and the project will have decorative and protective functions for pedestrian zones.

- How will the transfer be organized?

The metro station is expected only by 2025, so the facility will have to operate for 7 years without a metro. The transfer issue will definitely be resolved, but for now the first thing that comes to mind is to use transportation from the Staraya Derevnya and Chernaya Rechka metro stations.

The project also provides for a sufficient number of parking spaces (according to the standard, one parking space should be created for 5 employees and 1 parking space for 10 visitors, but we plan to create more parking spaces), and for tourism purposes, together with the city, a project for an interchange hub is being developed - these new Lakhta railway platforms ", intercept parking. There will also be public transport stops there. All this should be operational by 2017.

- How many people will work in the tower?

In total, about 10 thousand people will be on the territory of the complex every day: more than 5 thousand office employees and about 4 thousand visitors and tourists.

- Can you name the approximate amount of investment in the project?

I'm not involved in this issue. I only determine the validity of specific decisions. For example, we calculate the efficiency of refrigeration systems. I know how much money we will save on this. And the total cost of the project is the competence of my management.

- And if you compare it with the Okhta Center project, which project is more expensive?

This cannot be compared at all - the objects are completely different, but the cost of construction per square meter in the Lakhta Center project is lower, because the situation with the soil is different here. We were just very lucky. And the amount of usable space here is much larger.

- Will the facility be introduced in stages or in one phase?

If we had it like in the MIBC Moscow City, when the entire development is divided into separate stages of construction, each building is put into operation independently - we would be terribly happy, but with us all the buildings are a single whole of one object. The design documentation was developed without highlighting queues, without highlighting launch complexes, without highlighting construction stages.

In our project, engineering support, transport accessibility and everything else are created comprehensively; one tower cannot be put into operation. We wanted to divide it into stages, but it didn’t work out, so we will introduce everything at the same time, for which the builders thanked us very much (in quotes). We will have to put into operation all 400 thousand square meters at once. This will be a feat, because in Russia it has never happened that 400 thousand square meters were introduced at once.

- Tell us what is happening at the site now? What stage is it going on?

The work is in full swing. The piles have been completed and the excavation of the tower foundation has been completed. This colossal structure is five football fields 20 meters deep. It's so beautiful it takes your breath away. There are spacer discs, a wall in the ground, everything is massive and solid... A colossal building structure. You physically feel the work of the structures. There are people working down there, they are very small, because the height still makes itself felt. There is a bay nearby, and the pit is dry. A person who is far from construction does not fully understand how difficult it is. This is simply Beautiful with a capital B, beautiful from the point of view of human capabilities, his engineering.

One of the tallest buildings in Russia and Europe - the modern skyscraper Lakhta Center - is located in the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg. Its construction began in 2012, the building was put into operation in 2018, and the opening of the Lakhta Center is scheduled for the end of 2019. In addition to Gazprom's headquarters, there will be offices, scientific and business centers, an amphitheater, a sports club and other infrastructure. The main highlight of the tower will be the observation deck, which offers a panoramic view of St. Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland. The cost of the Lakhta Center is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars.

Night lighting of Lakhta Center: panorama-google

Observation deck of Lakhta Center

The most anticipated object of the complex is the observation deck, which will be located at an altitude of 360 meters, on the top floor. It will be a panoramic site with a 360° viewing angle and telescopes for a detailed view. High-speed elevators will be available to lift visitors up. It is planned that the Lakhta Center observation deck will become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

Christmas tree

Despite the fact that the official opening of the skyscraper has not yet taken place, Lakhta Center is already taking part in the cultural life of the Northern capital. In honor of the New Year, on December 31, festive lighting was lit on the façade of the building, turning the tower into the world's tallest green Christmas tree.

Video of New Year's greetings:

Lakhta Center webcam

Currently, a webcam is installed at the observation deck level, which broadcasts a panorama of St. Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland in real time. You can see the popular attractions of the city - the park named after the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the Gazprom Arena stadium, the Yacht Bridge, Elagin Island and other objects.

Floor plan and architecture

Due to widespread media coverage of the construction of this facility, many are interested in the question “how many floors are there in the Lakhta Center and what will be there?” According to the project, the tower has 87 floors, and the total area of the premises is 400 thousand square meters. meters, of which 130 thousand square meters are designated for offices. meters. Almost 40 elevators are planned to be launched to move between floors. In addition to the main building, the complex includes two more buildings, which are located on the sides of the tower. Their height varies from 22 to 85 meters.

Lakhta Center Project

In addition to the observation deck and Gazprom headquarters, the complex will house the following facilities:

Panoramic restaurant Lakhta Center. The halls will be located on the 75th and 76th floors (height about 320 meters). This will be a nice alternative viewing platform. Based on the results of selecting applicants to create a restaurant, the management company announced the winner at the beginning of 2019. They were famous Russian football players - the Berezutsky brothers, who proposed the concept of a restaurant of Russian cuisine, the basis of which would be Russian-made products and unique recipes from all over the country.
Multifunctional hall - transformer and congress center. A unique feature of this hall is that, if necessary, it can be divided into two rooms. This is the first such facility in St. Petersburg. The seating arrangement and stage configuration can be changed to suit the format of the event. It is planned that the transforming hall will host concerts, performances, fashion shows and other events.
Scientific and educational center. The main task of the scientific center will be to popularize science among the population. The center will be open to a wide audience, educational events will be held here - lectures, exhibitions. The exhibition area reaches 7000 square meters. meters.
Medical Center. The Lakhta Center diagnostic and treatment complex is designed to provide services to residents of the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg. Equipped with the most modern equipment, the medical center will provide dental, therapeutic, surgical and other services.
Sports complex. In Lakhta Center it is planned to create a large sports center with an area of 4600 sq. meters. There will be gyms, group exercise rooms, swimming pools, relaxation and wellness centers.
Atrium, shopping areas, expositions. For office workers and visitors to the skyscraper there will be exhibition halls for art objects and works of art, a multimedia hall, as well as cafes, canteens and shops.
Offices. The management company offers offices for rent ranging from 650 to 2100 sq. m. meters. Detailed information from the administration, contacts can be found on the official website of the Lakhta Center.

At the foot of the tower, on the territory overlooking the bay, it is planned to build amphitheater. Designed for 2,000 seats, the facility will be the first structure of this type in St. Petersburg. The amphitheater is oriented towards the sea; according to the architects' plan, the stage can be water or the coastline.

Architectural solution

Since the Lakhta Center building has an extreme height, during the development of the project and construction, much attention was paid to the stability and safety of the structure. The main tower has a central core made of reinforced concrete, within which the most important communications and security zones are located. The foundation of the skyscraper stands on 2080 piles, and the floors and columns are made of metal and concrete.

The architectural concept of Lakhta Center was developed by RMJM in 2011. As conceived by the authors, the outlines of the skyscraper fit perfectly into the landscape of St. Petersburg and form a harmonious combination with the spiers and domes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The glazing of the Lakhta Center is made without joints, which gives the building lightness - the smooth walls of the facade reflect water and clouds.

How to get to Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg

Metro near Lakhta Center

The nearest metro station “Begovaya” is within walking distance from the skyscraper. The walk will take about 20 minutes, but while the tower is not open, you can admire it from the territory of the park of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

Route from the metro to Lakhta Center:

The authorities plan to build a new Lakhta metro station. The project is included in the metro development plan until 2025.

Ground transportation

Next to the Lakhta Center there is a public transport stop - “15th km Lakhta”. There are buses No. 101, 101a, 110, 211, 216 and minibuses No. 206, 210, 232, 305, 305a, 400, 405, 417, 425.

In addition, to travel around St. Petersburg, you can use applications from taxi services Uber, Gett, Yandex. Taxi, Maxim, Taxovichkof, etc.

Presentation of Lakhta Center: video tour

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) is a public and business complex currently under construction. 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 antenna/spire is 462 m. The top level of the very last 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 the atrium into northern and southern parts. The total area of the future building will be 400 thousand m2. 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, 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 city-museum, 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 desire to rise, 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.
Part of the complex will also be a covered pedestrian bridge that 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 glass surface area of the tower 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 multifunctionality, thoughtful concept and organic architectural design.

“We still have not developed the mise-en-scene for the funeral of the first person of the state,” the departed ruler can lay claim to a noticeable architectural object only if it is an Egyptian pyramid or mausoleum

Elusive height

The construction of the 300-meter Gazprom City tower in St. Petersburg is in doubt. The head of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, said that if this project is implemented, St. Petersburg will be deleted from the UNESCO world list of monuments. And this will not be the skyscraper’s only contribution to the cultural history of the city, says Vlast’s special correspondent. Grigory Revzin .

President and UNESCO

Well, they’ve been removed from the UNESCO list, so what? They were included in this list in 1990, and before that they lived but didn’t bother. Of course, St. Petersburg is the only metropolis in the world included in the entire World Heritage List, and this is prestigious. But, on the other hand, this does not directly affect anything. UNESCO has neither economic nor administrative powers; it cannot punish Gazprom or Valentina Matvienko in any way. This organization creates public opinion - but the world has not the best opinion about Russia even without UNESCO.

The President of Russia also spoke not very scary. Vladimir Putin said three phrases about Gazprom City at a press conference in the Kremlin. First: "I understand the public's concern that this building will be too close to the center. And in general I share this concern." Second: “Everything that was created in St. Petersburg in architecture is the achievements of previous generations. Then St. Petersburg became the center of architecture and culture. Our generation did nothing. We need some kind of push, fresh air, we need a center of business activity.” And third: “I don’t want to influence the decisions made by the city authorities, there is no need to shift these decisions onto me. I have enough problems of my own.”

The position of the opponents of the skyscraper from the very beginning was that the construction of a new high-rise building near the city center would disrupt its historical appearance. In the form in which this position was presented by Vladimir Putin, it was first heard from the lips of Mikhail Piotrovsky in September 2006: the construction of the tower itself is possible, but in a different place, away from the center. The position of the supporters of the skyscraper was formed much earlier, even during the competition for the Mariinsky Theater, won in 2003 by Dominique Perrault. It was then that a number of architects, and then Governor Valentina Matvienko, spoke out in the sense that continuing the work of Peter the Great was not preserving the heritage of St. Petersburg, but inviting foreign architects and with their help cutting a new window to Europe.

These ideas have captured different people at different times, and now they have reached Vladimir Putin, both at once. He began biblically wisely, in the genre of “and you are right, Valentina, and you, Mikhail, are right,” but instead of carrying out justice, he ended somewhat unexpectedly: in general, this is none of my business, deal with it as you wish. So the point is not made.

Union of Skyscraper Opponents

After analyzing publications about the Gazprom skyscraper, you can discover an amazing picture. Since September, about 100 substantive publications have appeared on this subject. Of these, only three are positive, the rest shout: “Guard!” For today's Russia, this is a unique situation - we are faced with a movement directed against the government, which is growing from below and is not coordinated by anyone.

The movement has several independently operating centers. The first, undoubtedly, are architects, and the center here is the St. Petersburg branch of the Union of Architects (chairman - Vladimir Popov). Back in July 2006, when the competition for the skyscraper project was just announced, they wrote a letter to Valentina Matvienko, which stated that the construction of a high-rise building opposite the Smolny Monastery was inadmissible. Having not received a positive answer, the architects began to act. Their successes are quite significant. They attracted to their side the Moscow Union of Architects (chairman - Viktor Logvinov), the Union of Architects of Russia (chairman - Yuri Gnedovsky), the International Union of Architects, where the same Yuri Gnedovsky is vice-president, the Russian Academy of Architecture, at whose session in November, the competition for the Gazprom building was called “architectural banditry.” This movement is inherently deeply apolitical, loyal to the authorities (architects value orders) and inclined to compromise. It is radicalized to the extent that no compromise is offered. They managed to achieve two effects. Firstly, the competition for the Gazprom building itself was actually disrupted. The position of Russian architectural organizations led to the fact that none of the respected Russian masters were included in the jury and, moreover, three Western stars emerged from it - Norman Foster, Kisho Kurokawa and Rafael Viñoly, with whom it was possible to silence any Russian opposition. Secondly, they managed to organize many publications (all publications before October 2006 mentioned the Union of Architects in one way or another), including in the foreign press (up to the New York Times, which may have influenced the position of Western stars). I think that the Union of Architects of St. Petersburg, a rather intimate organization, had never before realized the extent of its potential influence.

Secondly, these are monument protection bodies. Again, since they are part of the St. Petersburg administration, and before the election of Valentina Matvienko for a second term they were shaken up (the head of the St. Petersburg Committee for State Protection and Use of Monuments, Igor Yavein, resigned from his post, and Vera Dementieva took his place), then this center of the movement is loyal to the authorities and prone to compromise. However, since their opinion was ignored, they began to look for allies - in this case, cultural figures. The speeches of Mikhail Piotrovsky and the visit of the UNESCO delegation to St. Petersburg are the result of the work of this center. He should be considered somewhat more influential, since all those who disagree here are government officials, and they can operate through the appropriate channels. Mikhail Piotrovsky, for example, spoke on behalf of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art, and the presidium of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments also wrote a letter to the president.

The movement for the protection of monuments in Russia has a dual nature - its most authoritative figures are included in the structures of state power, but there are also a lot of people who are “on the street”. As a rule, they do not have a common position, and in Moscow, say, Yuri Luzhkov has perfectly learned to silence the “street” through the efforts of officials. However, this did not happen in St. Petersburg - Valentina Matvienko’s ignorance of the position of state security agencies led to the fact that officials closed ranks with the “street”.

Finally, the fourth center is political parties. These people generally do not tend to notice social movements of this kind and usually deal with more global issues, so they joined the fight later than everyone else. But there are elections in St. Petersburg, and the fight for votes is important. The most active position was taken by members of Yabloko - they included the fight against Gazprom City in their election program and tried to organize a referendum in the city (according to media polls, 90% of residents are against construction). As a result, the St. Petersburg election commission first refused to register the initiative group for holding a referendum (as usual, inaccurate information in the questionnaires of 3 members of the initiative group out of 30), and then Yabloko withdrew from elections in St. Petersburg. The result was not long in coming: the fight against the Gazprom tower was included in their program by the Union of Right Forces and A Just Russia. Sergei Mironov personally spoke out against the tower, which again makes us think about Gazprom’s position on this issue. It is obvious to politicians that the position on the tower issue does not lead to a systemic conflict with Gazprom.

Valentina Matvienko does not want to play on four fields at once, preferring not to notice them. But the further the scandal develops, the more united the ranks of opponents become. Today the “street” is playing extremely weakly, but it’s a matter of time.

Why is this necessary?

This is the most mysterious question in the entire story with two main participants - Gazprom and the administration of St. Petersburg.

Gazprom does not comment on its decision, it just wants a skyscraper. At the same time, the future skyscraper is not the headquarters of Gazprom; it quietly remains in Moscow, and a regional office should be built in St. Petersburg. Actually, we are talking about 20 top managers and 2000-3000 employees. By all measures, this is not enough for a 300-meter building, and it will obviously be rented out (the estimated capacity of the building is 20,000 people). That is, for Gazprom this is generally an investment in office real estate, in some, excuse me, non-core asset. Not that he is somehow capable of influencing Gazprom's economic reputation. In the overall picture, this is, of course, some insignificant percentage, but it is completely incomprehensible why such a fuss should be made for the sake of a non-core asset.

Moreover, it is unclear why Gazprom needs an office skyscraper in the area of the historical center of St. Petersburg. This would be understandable if we were talking about a less self-confident company, compensating for doubts about its importance with boorish behavior. Let's say in Barcelona the main skyscraper in the city belongs to a company that, in Russian style, should be called "Barcelonavodokanal" (Aqua Barselona). Everything is clear here, a very important company that controls the majority of plumbers in the city. But Gazprom in Moscow sits on Nametkina Street, in a building, although high-rise, but not too high, and it doesn’t seem like it’s even going to move to City in Moscow. Gazprom is such an organization that people go to it themselves, not caring in the least that they are so far from the Kremlin. And then suddenly the regional branch of the company turns into a 300-meter long tower opposite Smolny - why?

For some time, there was a version in the media that this was being built personally for Vladimir Putin and that it was in this tower that he should sit after leaving the post of President of the Russian Federation. This version is popular among opponents of construction, but, in my opinion, it is very doubtful. It is customary for us to attribute the most idiotic initiatives to the personal desires of the president, and here things reach the point of absurdity. For example, the sculptor Sergei Gulyaev, who in early February was accused by his colleagues of unethical behavior in decorating the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery, explained the significance of his work by the fact that “we still have not developed the mise-en-scene for the funeral of the first person of the state,” even somehow not realizing that he might be in charge of developing such mise-en-scenes. Even if we assume that Vladimir Putin does indeed step down as president in 2008, it is unlikely that he will be so careless as to sit in front of the new president in the tallest tower in Russia. It is an ancient law: a departed ruler can lay claim to a notable architectural object only if it is an Egyptian pyramid or mausoleum. If he is still alive, then he must be placed somewhere in the shadows and not irritate people with the fact of his existence.

The second participant in the project is the city administration. There's a lot to think about here. The Bolshaya Okhta area, where they are planning to build a Gazprom skyscraper, is a very depressing environment with dilapidated houses and abandoned industrial enterprises. Of course, the arrival of an investor such as Gazprom can greatly improve the situation. If I were Valentina Matvienko, I would also fight for this with both hands. But it is completely unclear why it should be a skyscraper. The site overlooks the Neva embankment, the embankments of St. Petersburg are a magnificent view, this is an architectural brand that can glorify the city much better than a skyscraper and is much more in line with President Putin’s idea of doing something majestic with the help of the current generation of politicians. If a skyscraper is absolutely necessary, then it is not clear why in this place. In the end, Valentina Matvienko is the head not of the Okhtinsky district, but of the entire city; what difference does it make in which district the Gazprom office will be located?

Valentina Matvienko’s behavior is illogical, because she is growing opposition in the city for no apparent purpose. Some see it as simple persistence. The stronger the pressure from opponents, the stronger the desire to overcome it. After all, think for yourself - a great deal has been done. They brought such a customer to the city! They organized an international architectural competition for it! We found such a wonderful project, the company RMJM built skyscrapers in Dubai! No, you try to do all this! And here are some monument protection inspectors, old women, students - it’s simply funny and offensive. We need to prove it to them.

Perhaps so. But it seems to me that in such a matter there cannot but be a purely economic interest.

Business the Dubai way

In St. Petersburg, in the center you cannot build higher than 24 meters (the height of the Winter Palace, the norm has been in force since the 18th century), and around the center - 48 meters. This is called the city's height regulation, and it is the law. To build a skyscraper, you have to break the law. Why do this is unclear. There is no logic in this.

But it seems: maybe the cause and effect need to be changed here? Maybe it’s not the law that needs to be broken in order to build a Gazprom office, but the Gazprom office that needs to be built in order to break the law? The first time Valentina Matvienko spoke out against the height regulations was back in September. “Building no higher than 48 meters is a dead end for us,” she said. The same position was repeated by First Deputy Governor Alexander Vakhmistrov on the day the UNESCO delegation arrived in St. Petersburg. He is convinced that height restrictions should be established only for the protected zone of the historical center, and when developing other territories, no one should be restricted.

Oddly enough, this is in some ways a more significant issue - at least for the city administration. She constantly faces the fact that investors close to her demand high-rise construction and run into city regulations, since it concerns the center and the surrounding areas. At the same time as the Gazprom skyscraper, the issue of the Baltic Pearl complex, which is being built by Chinese investors, is being discussed - its height is 170 meters. But we are not even talking about such complex high-rise complexes, which are unique, but about buildings of 20-30 floors in the city center, which are not too expensive to construct and operate and provide the investor with maximum income. And this is a critical question. The Gazprom skyscraper itself, although it will spoil the silhouette of the city, but only at one point. However, if you start building dozens of 30-story buildings in St. Petersburg, then the city can not only be deleted from the UNESCO World Heritage List, but even forgotten about it as a cultural phenomenon. On the other hand, this will allow investors to quickly turn around.

Serious economic problem. Skyscraper critics emphasize that the construction of skyscrapers today is not a sign of economic prosperity, but, on the contrary, of economic backwardness. They are built in Asian countries and are symbols of rapid development economies based on natural resources, cheap labor and financial speculation. The problem is that in Russia such an economy is not a reality, but a goal. The point here is not about artistic values, but about how investment flows are structured.

St. Petersburg is a city with a huge historical center, twice as large as Moscow. A city with a huge number of squares. They need reconstruction, but reconstruction is an order of magnitude more subtle type of development business than new construction. Everything here is much more complicated - the project, the construction technologies, the management system, and, ultimately, the business itself. The story with the Gazprom tower shows that the St. Petersburg administration, alas, has not learned to work with such a business - neither to generate it, nor to interact with it. Instead, they preferred to use the force of Gazprom to break through the height regulations and develop after that by demolishing old neighborhoods and building Dubai skyscrapers in their place.

I think that Gazprom's skyscraper will not be built. Valentina Matvienko was left alone in this matter. Gazprom has shown itself to be a passive ally. Vladimir Putin distanced himself from the project and identified himself with the point of view of Mikhail Piotrovsky (after the president literally repeated his position on the project, he should be recognized as one of the most authoritative cultural experts in today's political Russia). The ideological construction program has reached a dead end - it makes no sense to build a symbol of today's prosperity and high level of Russia if Europe, thanks to this, equates us with savages destroying a monument of world significance. The ranks of opponents of construction are only growing stronger, and the St. Petersburg administration is not able to work with them.

In addition to all this, the building cannot be built, at least in the form in which it was presented for the competition. It is too thin for 300 meters, the width of the building there is 20 meters, which means that, in fact, the entire area of the building is occupied by the rigid core with elevator shafts and utilities, and there is no space left for offices. For this project to become realistic, the skyscraper must be two and a half times wider, and this is a completely different project. It will be the same with him as with the Mariinsky Perrault Theater - when it comes to actual design, the project will have to be completely redone, terminate the contract with the authors and look for new ones.

But this does not mean that the danger has passed. The question of building a skyscraper in St. Petersburg first arose in 1994, when it was decided to build the Peter the Great Tower here. Then Academician Likhachev saved the matter. Ten years passed, the question arose again, Mikhail Piotrovsky saved the matter. So, excuse me, you can’t get enough academicians. This question will arise again and again until the city learns to make money from reconstruction. This is a different level of the construction business, but without it St. Petersburg is doomed.

Skyscraper by process of elimination

Anna Tolstova

The government of St. Petersburg promptly responded to the recommendations of UNESCO experts to maintain height regulations in the city.

On February 7, the city commission on land use and development rules approved a new concept for height regulations, supported by Smolny. Formally, restrictions on the height of buildings in the historical center of the city and the buffer zones around it remain. However, exceptions are allowed: it will be possible to violate height restrictions in individual cases, when we are talking about unique urban planning projects, through public approval procedures. Lawyers and the St. Petersburg Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture have been entrusted with developing a procedure for public approval of unique projects. However, until now, any scandalous architectural project in St. Petersburg, causing violent public indignation after the fact, turned out to be coordinated with the public.

In other words, although strict height restrictions (48 meters) remain in the area where it is planned to build the 396-meter Gazprom City skyscraper, they can be violated if the public unanimously recognizes the Gazprom project as unique and considers it possible to make an exception for it. Employees of the St. Petersburg Committee for the Protection of Monuments have no doubt that such exceptions may soon become the rule.

“This does not threaten the city with any sanctions”

A UNESCO regional conference dedicated to the problems of preserving historical cities included in the World Heritage List was held in St. Petersburg. One of the days of the conference was dedicated to St. Petersburg - the only metropolis in the world whose entire historical center is included in this list.

UNESCO experts listened to a report from officials of the local committee for the protection of monuments, reporting on successes in preserving the architectural heritage of St. Petersburg. However, representatives of public organizations concerned about the condition of the historical center of the city, members of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage under the Government of St. Petersburg, the local branch of the Union of Architects and the local branch of the Society for the Preservation of Monuments were not invited to the conference. Nevertheless, they managed to meet with the participants of the UNESCO conference and convey their concerns to them. The most serious problems remain the Gazprom skyscraper construction project and the idea of abolishing the height regulations in St. Petersburg. The discussion was given additional urgency by the message that if the Gazprom City project is approved and the height regulations are abolished, St. Petersburg could be transferred from the UNESCO World Heritage List to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger. About how real this danger is, Vlast correspondent Anna Tolstova asked both those invited and not invited to the conference - Alexander Margolis, member of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage under the Government of St. Petersburg, Grigory Ordzhonikidze, executive secretary of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO, and Igor Makovetsky, President of the Russian National World Heritage Committee.

Alexander Margolis : the Moscow infection is creeping into St. Petersburg

-- What threats to St. Petersburg would you like to draw the attention of the UNESCO conference participants to?

- We focused on the danger that we now put first. We see it in the desire of the St. Petersburg government to abandon height regulations. Shortly before the start of the conference, the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Vakhmistrov, who oversees the construction side of Smolny’s activities, said that the height regulations are holding back the development of the city and should be abolished. This will certainly entail a wave of uncontrolled modern construction, including skyscrapers. UNESCO world experts - Francesco Bandarin, director of the World Heritage Center, and his colleagues - supported us in the strongest possible way, said that the abolition of height regulations is absolutely unacceptable, and took a definitely critical position regarding the Gazprom City project. None of us denies the possibility of high-rise construction in St. Petersburg in general. The controversy revolves exclusively around the location: we argue that at the mouth of the Okhta, strictly opposite the Smolny Cathedral and not far from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, such construction is unacceptable. The “sky line” of the city will be destroyed, and the landscape and silhouette of St. Petersburg constitute, perhaps, its main value as a phenomenon of world urban planning art. Whereas the construction of the same skyscraper, say, on the ring highway, in the area of the cable-stayed Obukhovsky Bridge, is quite possible.

-- Is the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage concerned that height regulations are already being violated in the center of St. Petersburg? For example, on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Vosstaniya Street, it is planned to build a 35-meter building for the Stockmann shopping complex, and according to the regulations, the permissible height on Nevsky is 28 meters.

- Of course, I’m concerned. Here we also come across various forms of scams. Let's start not with Stockmann, but with the so-called Mont Blanc, which before our eyes is growing floor by floor on the spit of the Vyborg side, next to the St. Petersburg hotel. We ask how this is possible, because the height of 48 meters, which is prescribed by the height regulations in this territory, has long been exceeded. We are told that the law does not have retroactive force: supposedly this project was agreed upon with the previous administration of Vladimir Yakovlev before the current administration approved the temporary height regulations in 2004. Now they are trying to prove to us that the height of the Stockmann complex was agreed upon almost in the last century. I have not seen these documents, but the question arises: how many such structures in the center of St. Petersburg were approved before 2004? Once in 2007, Vakhmistrov announced the abolition of the regulations, which means that the government, despite all its free handling of this document, is still constrained by it.

Another danger that worries us is related to the wave of demolition of old buildings in the center. For example, I have repeatedly drawn the attention of the authorities to the fact that after the fire, the St. Anne's Church, which was turned into the Spartak cinema in the 1930s, is not only not being restored, but no attempt has even been made to install a temporary roof there to prevent the final destruction of the remains. monument of the 18th century. This means that someone is deliberately causing the church built by Yuri Felten to collapse. This creates a new development site in a very attractive location in the city center. This method is thriving in the city. I consider any house that has been abandoned and not repaired for several years in a row as a potential victim. If we count all similar cases in the center, and there are dozens of them, we will get the feeling that a powerful movement has arisen to demolish old St. Petersburg.

— Is the process of demolishing buildings in the center of St. Petersburg and replacing them with new buildings following the Moscow path?

- The problem of demolishing the originals concerns us - indeed, this is the Moscow model. What is happening today in St. Petersburg means that the Moscow infection is creeping today from Belokamennaya to the northern capital. It is precisely those forces that destroyed historical Moscow before our eyes that have now decided to take on St. Petersburg with their money and their cynicism. Why are you clinging to old mansions - we will build you as it was and even better. This is the philosophy of the new elite.

-- If St. Petersburg is nevertheless excluded from the UNESCO World Heritage List, what does this mean for the city?

- Of course, this can be survived. But this will be a crushing blow to the prestige of the country, because the application to include St. Petersburg in the UNESCO list came from the country, and not from the city. Of course, this will affect the image of St. Petersburg and affect its attractiveness for investment, its attractiveness as a tourist center. But we are talking about people who make money. They may have already decided that they can sacrifice all this by building up St. Petersburg to their liking. By the way, what they are selling now is the most beautiful views from the windows of their penthouses. When they build up the center with these skyscrapers with penthouses, the price of their real estate will rapidly go down - they are actually sawing off the branch on which they are now perched. But we are dealing with looters who don’t think about tomorrow at all.

Grigory Ordzhonikidze : as far as St. Petersburg is concerned, everything will end well

-- Is there a real threat that St. Petersburg may be excluded from the UNESCO World Heritage List?

- We are not talking about exclusion from the list. If the Gazprom Tower is built within the so-called buffer zone, which extends to the regulated development zone, then it is quite possible that the World Heritage Committee, which will meet for its next session in New Zealand in the summer, may decide to transfer St. Petersburg to the list of sites are under threat. At the same time, I note that the construction project was not officially considered. But this is very famously used by different parties who want to make PR for themselves on this wave.

— How much does the city government understand that the abolition of height regulations could lead St. Petersburg to be excluded from the list?

-- The government of St. Petersburg is in full possession of the information. The city's chief architect spoke on television during our conference and said that the height regulations would be maintained.

-- What are the possible consequences of the exclusion of St. Petersburg from the World Heritage List?

- The city does not face any sanctions. This will mean that, in relation to this object, Russia does not comply with the provisions of the international Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, to which it has acceded. If we do not comply with any provisions of this document, the object is transferred to the “endangered list” - until measures are taken to eliminate this threat. But I think that with regard to St. Petersburg everything will end well.

-- Were there any precedents for the exclusion of any other countries or cities from the World Heritage List?

- Quite often. Germany, the USA, Chile, Egypt, Azerbaijan... There are different criteria by which objects are transferred to the list of endangered: either a complete loss of universal value, or a violation of certain provisions of the convention, in particular the conduct of economic work that damages the object. Or, for example, construction, as happened in Baku. They are still on the endangered list. In principle, this is not some kind of shameful list. Thanks to him, an international campaign to save the monument can be launched.

Igor Makovetsky : UNESCO cannot deal with all this mass of things

-- What are the results of the UNESCO conference held in St. Petersburg? And what are the chances of St. Petersburg being excluded from the UNESCO World Heritage List?

- Nothing like that was discussed there. St. Petersburg has prepared a detailed report on comments regarding the protection of the historical part of St. Petersburg, which were made two years ago at a session of the World Heritage Committee. It was about how the security zone was built. Now, according to the UNESCO convention (on the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage - “Power”), we are obliged to create buffer zones for world heritage sites. St. Petersburg has submitted this report on buffer zones: it will be considered at the July session of UNESCO in New Zealand. I think the assessment will be generally positive.

— How did UNESCO experts react to the idea of abolishing height regulations in St. Petersburg, which was expressed by the St. Petersburg authorities?

- Negative. We believe that all height regulations should be preserved. The closer to the center, the stricter the regulations. But even beyond the buffer line, which, say, in the area of the Smolny Monastery runs along the Neva, the regulations do not allow construction higher than 48 meters.

-- What happens if the regulations are canceled?

- Well, first of all, the regulations have not yet been canceled. Moreover, the conference considered it necessary to expand the buffer zones with height regulations to the development control zones surrounding the actual security zone of the historical center.

- However, in the protected center of St. Petersburg, some areas are being transferred to a regulated development zone, and construction begins there. As, for example, on the territory of the Tauride Garden, a monument of federal significance.

-- Specialists from the Committee for the Protection of Monuments of St. Petersburg did not report on this at the conference. They were in favor of maintaining the height regulations and expanding the buffer zone.

-- Are the height regulations and the construction of the Gazprom skyscraper problems of the St. Petersburg authorities or should they be resolved at the federal level?

- The governor of St. Petersburg is primarily responsible for this. But since the city is a world heritage site, and the convention was signed by the head of state, any decision must be consistent with the federal government.

— In recent years, in St. Petersburg, many buildings in the historical center have been demolished, and then new buildings are built in their place. According to experts, buildings are often unreasonably recognized as unsafe. Has this issue been discussed?

- The point is that this is not our question. Historical development is the responsibility of the city administration, the Ministry of Culture and monument protection authorities. If they justify that the building is dilapidated, does not comply with all our building rules and safety standards, and are going to restore it in a new form - what can UNESCO say here? You yourself know how this happens, you ask me a question that you yourself could easily answer. The World Heritage Center accepts applications from anyone; anyone can write there about the destruction of the monument. But we did not receive such complaints. UNESCO cannot deal with all this mass of affairs - this is the business of the country that signed the convention and guaranteed the preservation of world heritage sites.