St. Petersburg "Lakhta Center" - reached the estimated height: 462 meters. Even before completion of construction, it became the tallest skyscraper in Europe, overtaking the current record holder, the Moscow Federation-East Tower (374 m). The installation of the building's spire was completed this week.
The frame of the high-rise building took 6 years to build, and the large construction project is planned to be fully completed this year.
Lakhta Center is a unique project. For example, being the northernmost skyscraper in the world, it is equipped with a specially developed “smart façade” system. Window shading elements - a kind of curtains - will automatically rise or fall depending on how bright the sun is.
On the top floor of the Lakhta Center, at 357 meters, there will be a publicly accessible observation deck - closed with panoramic glazing. This is the highest observation deck in Russia and Europe. This is higher than the Shard Observation Deck in London and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
Viewing angle – 360 degrees. Special high-speed elevators will lift visitors to heights. Such a site will be a prominent point on the tourist routes of St. Petersburg.
Skeptics said that in St. Petersburg, in fact, in swamps, such buildings cannot be built - the soil is too unstable. But it turned out that this is a very superficial judgment.
It turns out that only the top layer of soil in the Northern Capital is unreliable: 20-25 meters, then the so-called Vendian clays begin - these are very dense rocks formed in the late Proterozoic - that is, hundreds of millions of years ago. It is on them that Lakhta Center relies.
The stability of the colossal building is given by 264 piles with a diameter of 2 meters, placed at a depth of more than 80 meters. Moreover, if the position of any of them suddenly changes for some reason, special sensors installed in the bases and frames of the piles will let you know.
One of the main enemies of modern skyscrapers is the wind. Of course, he cannot bring down a high-rise building, but he can rock it quite well. It is estimated that the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, can deviate from the vertical by one and a half meters, and the Ostankino Tower by as much as 12 meters.
As for the Lakhta Center, the builders, having tested a scale model in a wind tunnel, found out: in real conditions, the maximum deviation from the vertical at the level of the spire will not exceed half a meter, and at the level of the observation tower it will be only 27 cm - people generally have such fluctuations They don’t feel it.
Stability was achieved thanks to the design features: 5 so-called outriggers are installed on the building frame - powerful horizontal structures that act as stiffening rings holding the structure in a vertical position.
Even before the completion of construction, Lakhta Center became the tallest skyscraper in Europe, overtaking the current record holder, the Moscow Federation-East Tower (374 m), and continues to grow. By the time construction is completed in 2018, Lakhta Center will reach 462 meters.
ROAD TO THE CLOUDS
Floor-by-floor construction of the Lakhta Center skyscraper started at the end of August 2015. Less than a year later, on June 27, 2016, the tower became the tallest building in St. Petersburg, reaching an altitude of 147 meters.
In July 2016, the Lakhta Center overtook the tallest buildings in Belgium - Tour du Midi (150 m), Finland - Kymijärven voimalaitos in consonant Lahti (155 m) and the Netherlands - Rotterdam Maastoren (164.75 m).
In August, it was the turn of Switzerland - the Basel skyscraper Roche Turm Bau 1 (178 m) and Sweden with the 190-meter Turning Torso in the city of Malmö were left behind.
On October 7, 2016, the St. Petersburg tower caught up with the tallest “Italian” - the UniCredit Tower skyscraper in Milan (218 m). Already on October 25, it was immediately equal to two European peaks - the Palace of Culture and Science - the main skyscraper in Poland and the highest in La Defense and all of France, Tour First, which after reconstruction in 2011 grew to 231 m.
In January 2017, the St. Petersburg tower outgrew the top “Spanish” Torre de Cristal, whose 250 meters tower over Madrid.
At the beginning of April, the tower overtook the Germans - Commerzbank Tower (259 m) and moved into the category of supertolls - super-tall skyscrapers. On Cosmonautics Day, April 12, she left London's The Shard (306 m) behind. On October 5, 2017 it reached 384 meters.
827 days - that’s how long it took the Lakhta Center from the start of floor-by-floor construction to the tallest building on the European continent.
All heights of European skyscrapers are indicated according to the Emporis agency, architectural height mark.
WHAT IS LAKHTA CENTER
Conceptually
Lakhta Center is the northernmost skyscraper in the world, being built on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, embodying the aesthetics of the cold water expanses of the Baltic. The tower resembles an ice hummock, while the adjacent multifunctional building resembles a broken iceberg. “The organic, spire-like shape of the tower symbolizes the power of water, and the specific glass facade allows the skyscraper to change color depending on the position of the sun, creating the impression of a living object,” say the authors of the architectural concept, the RMJM bureau.
Architecturally
The complex has four real estate units with an area of over 400,000 m2:
- An 87-story skyscraper that twists 90 degrees from base to top. Second in the world's top spiral-shaped skyscrapers after the Shanghai Tower.
- A multifunctional building of different heights, shaped like a boomerang, divided into two blocks by a longitudinal atrium. The length of the facade - 260 m - is longer than that of the Winter Palace.
- The arch is a separate building-entrance to the complex. Uniquely large-span unsupported trusses, the length of which at the vanishing points is 98 m.
- Stylobate hiding parking, warehouses, logistics passage.
Construction period: from 2012 to 2018.
Functionally
The complex combines the headquarters of PJSC Gazprom and public spaces - the highest observation deck in Europe at 360 m, a ball-shaped planetarium with a full spherical panorama of the sky and the ability to demonstrate 10,000,000 stars, an open atrium on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, scientific -educational center and other facilities.
General Director of Lakhta Center Elena Ilyukhina: “We are creating a fundamentally new environment where there will be everything: modern education, cultural projects, exciting events, conceptual art objects, and not just a set of services in addition to offices. We want to create a space where everyone can find themselves, be it a student, a tourist, a pensioner, an office employee on a weekday evening or a weekend. And it is this socially significant function that lies the main goal and mission of the project. In terms of volume, public spaces will occupy approximately a third of the area, but in terms of impact, on the contrary, it will be 70% of the project.”
In the context of urban development
Lakhta Center is located 9 km away. from the historical center of the city, acting as a new core of attraction for business and social activity in St. Petersburg.
Already today, residential and commercial real estate, social infrastructure facilities - an international sailing center, a tennis academy and others - are being planned and built in the surrounding areas. The Lakhta Center itself will act as an anchor modern attraction, developing the conservative image of St. Petersburg as a city of historical palaces and museums.
Executive Director of Lakhta Center Alexander Bobkov: “We hope that Lakhta Center will become a new attraction, a new height for St. Petersburg of the 21st century. The kind of city landmark that the Peter and Paul Fortress was in the 18th century or St. Isaac’s in the 19th century.”
Writer Evgeny Vodolazkin: “Every city, even one like St. Petersburg, must develop. The main thing is that this happens not on the site of the historical center, but next to it. Expanding in space, the city seems to go deeper in time, presenting its different eras at the same time. Yes, “Lakhta Center” is still visible from the city - but not as a dominant feature, but as “one of”, as, if you like, one of the spiers.”
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BUILDERS OF LAKHTA CENTER
Lakhta Center - a supertoll, weighing more than 670 thousand tons, is being built in the most difficult conditions, 3rd soil category. The volume of scientific research support for the project is unprecedented. Engineering and technical research lasted 3 years with the involvement of 13 companies, including ARUP and PKB "Inforsproekt" under the scientific guidance of Academician V.I. Travush, one of the designers of the Ostankino TV tower. Geotechnicians alone drilled 40 km. exploration wells up to 150 meters deep - three times deeper than the subsoil explored in St. Petersburg.
The piles under the skyscraper reach a diameter of 2 meters and are the widest in the world.
The box foundation of the tower includes three slabs. The lower one, with a thickness of 3600 mm and a volume of 19,624 m3, was poured non-stop in 49 hours from the bottom of the pit on March 1, 2015. The concreting operation was noted in the Guinness Book of Records.
The supporting columns of the skyscraper have a slope of 2.89° to achieve the spiral shape of the tower and are made of composite materials, representing a steel core of 1.5 * 1.5 m, encased in high-strength B80 concrete. This solution, first used in Russian high-rise construction, made it possible to reduce the construction time of columns by 40% and the cost by half.
Chief engineer of Lakhta Center Sergei Nikiforov: “We take all the advantages from metal. This is the speed, “ease of erection” of the structure. And we take the positive aspects of concrete, such as resistance to fire loads. Plus, we ensure equal creep and shrinkage of the core and outer perimeter since the columns are in a concrete environment. That is, we have approximately the same shrinkage both around the perimeter and inside, which helps reduce the internal stress that occurs in metal structures. This is a very good solution, it was calculated by several calculation systems. As a result, all the technical parameters that we laid down, all the goals and objectives were solved successfully.”
The glazing of the skyscraper facades is made of cold-formed glass; the total volume of glazing of the complex - 130 thousand m2 - is one of the largest in the world.
Innovative developments are being carried out especially for the skyscraper - a unique system for servicing the facades has been created, and in the final stage - PIC.
Lakhta Center is certified according to the LEED (Gold) system.
CURRENT CONSTRUCTION STATUS
All major concrete work has been completed in the skyscraper, along with the installation of most composite columns and interfloor slabs. Starting from the 83rd floor of the tower, installation of under-spire columns, which are large-diameter steel pipes, is underway. The tower spire is being erected. The height of the structure is 117 m, weight is 2,000 tons.
The installation of metal structures of the Multifunctional Building has been fully completed. The building has reached its design levels - the maximum height of the building is 85 meters, the difference in number of floors is from 7 to 17 floors.
Glazing of the facades of the Multifunctional Building and the tower continues. Over 75% of external double-glazed windows were installed in the skyscraper.
Work continues on laying utility networks inside the buildings of the complex. At the same time, all life support systems are installed: ventilation, water supply, heat supply, sewerage, fire extinguishing, automatic data collection, vertical transport.
Office elevators have been installed and are operating from the 1st to 52nd floors of the tower - these are elevator groups of the lower and middle zones. The fully implemented vertical transport system will be able to transport 1,280 people at a time.
In September, builders began installing the Arch of the main entrance of the Lakhta Center - the fourth and final object of the complex, along with the stylobate, the MFZ and the Lakhta Center tower. The installation of the first arched truss out of four, which makes up the load-bearing structure of the building, has been fully completed.
Completion of construction of the entire complex is 2018. The opening of the first facilities is summer 2019.
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Friday, October 6, 2017
The future headquarters of Gazprom has officially updated one of the records for high-rise construction. Work on the unfinished Lakhta Center tower has crossed the 384-meter mark, making the building the tallest building in Europe.
Until now, the Vostok Tower of the Federation complex in the Moscow City International Business Center was considered the tallest building in Europe - the skyscraper reaches 373.8 meters into the sky, notes the portal "For the House PRO". When construction of the Lakhta Center is completed (and this will happen next year), its height will be 462 meters (87 floors). At around 360 meters, the complex will open the highest observation deck in Europe.
Upon completion of construction, Lakhta Center will be among the top 20 tallest buildings in the world. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's current rankings, the tower can claim 11th place. The St. Petersburg skyscraper is 22 meters away from entering the top ten.
By the way, Chinese buildings occupy the most positions in the top 10 world skyscrapers (six positions). The lowest of them rises to 484 m, the highest - to 632 m. And the world leader remains the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai - its height is 867 m.