Just over a year ago, Studio 44 won the international competition for the best draft design of the Schoolchildren's Palace. Several months after that it was spent on finalizing the project and issuing working documentation, then the project was coordinated with the Astana administration, and, finally, in the spring of this year, the builders went to the site. The palace, whose total area is more than 40 thousand square meters, was fully built in just 6 months.
Of course, given such a reactive deadline for implementation, there is a great temptation to raise the question of the quality of construction and the compliance of the result with the original architectural concept. The head of Studio 44, Nikita Yavein, and the chief architect of the project, Nikolai Smolin, who participated in the opening of the facility, shared their impressions of the new complex with Archi.ru.
Nikita Yavein: Honestly, even having received an invitation to the opening ceremony of the Palace, we did not fully believe that this large and complex complex could really be built in such a short time. We flew to Kazakhstan and expected to see many shortcomings and imperfections that would be eliminated for several months more - in general, we proceeded from our experience of working in Russia - but our expectations, fortunately, did not come true. When we were brought to the site, my first impression was very strong. All facades of the complex are made of glass and look amazing, especially on a sunny day, when the rays are repeatedly refracted through the glass surfaces of the facades, and at night, when the building is effectively illuminated from the outside and from the inside.
Archi.ru: To what extent and in what way does the implemented object differ from the initial competition project?
Nikolay Smolin: In terms of its composition and functional purpose, the object is fully consistent with the original concept. The composition of the complex has been completely preserved: the Palace of Schoolchildren's Creativity is a few rectangular volumes of different sizes, covered with a single disk, in which all kinds of circles and audiences are located.
Nikita Yavein: Let me remind you that we put a certain symbolic meaning into this image. In Kazakhstan, the influence of traditional national architecture is very strong, and we tried to design a structure that organically absorbed its techniques and motives. The disc, which unites all volumes, is a kind of distant descendant of the round shanyrak crowning the Kazakh yurt. Like the traditional shanyrak, it rests on three pillars - uyks, and is pierced with many round holes of different diameters. In the yurt, these holes symbolized the connection with the sky and the sun, while in our country they naturally play the role of light lanterns. The influence of national culture can be traced in the architectural solution of the lower volumes: we divided all the functions necessary for the palace into four different complexes - sports, theater and entertainment, museum and exhibition, as well as administration offices, a dining room and a library, each of which is "packed" in its own volume, decorated with ornaments referring to the image of traditional Kazakh felt suitcases (shabadans).
Nikolay Smolin: The main changes made to the project during construction concerned materials, and this is quite predictable. The Palace had a very tight budget, beyond which neither we nor the contractors could go, so many of the materials included in the projects were replaced with cheaper counterparts. Some replacements were also made due to the super-short terms of implementation. In particular, initially the facades of rectangular volumes were supposed to be made of architectural concrete, but already at the very first stage of construction it became clear that it was impossible to quickly produce such facades, so the concrete was replaced with glass, on which the ornament was applied. We worked very carefully to achieve the desired combination of transparency and readability of the picture from the material, several different samples were made, and, in our opinion, the result turned out to be decent. A light greenish glass was chosen, a white pattern was applied to it, and all this together gives the necessary feeling of lightness and delicacy.
Archi.ru: As far as I understand, the same glass is also present in the interior design of the public areas of the palace?
Nikolay Smolin: In the interior we used ordinary decorative glass - completely transparent, on which the same white pattern was applied. However, color is also actively introduced into the interior - in particular, we do this with the help of substrates of different shades, due to which the same ornaments "sound" differently.
Archi.ru: The interiors in general turned out to be very light and colorful - thanks to the large number of lamps and the active use of glass and polished stone, they literally sprinkle with lights and glare …
Nikita Yavein: There is certainly a sense of some excess in this - the contractors were so preoccupied with the task of doing everything "at the highest level" that they may have overdone something. On the other hand, I am sure that such excessiveness may be noticeable to adults, but it is quite appropriate in a building designed for children and for children. I can say that at first we wanted to make more calm and monochrome interiors, but when we figured everything out in the material, we realized that it turned out to be somewhat monotonous and gray, especially considering the scale of the complex.
Nikolay Smolin: Changes were also made to the solution of the spiral staircase piercing the space of the central atrium and connecting the first floor with the "sky", that is, a large skylight. Initially, it was supposed to revet it with patinated copper, but then the preference was given to cheaper aluminum with the texture of patinated copper.
Archi.ru: You have already mentioned light lanterns more than once. Did you manage to preserve the idea of a green roof in the project, which was supposed to turn into a gigantic playground for games and outdoor activities?
Nikolai Smolin: No, this idea, unfortunately, had to be completely abandoned. Firstly, the number of light lanterns was significantly increased - according to Kazakh norms, all interior rooms had to be illuminated, and secondly, the peculiarities of the climate played a role. However, it seems to me that this object turned out without a green roof. At least we are not ashamed of the fastest implementation in the history of Studio 44.
