Working on a competitive project for such a distinctive place as Sakhalin Island became an interesting and unusual experience for ABV Group. However, not only the geography of the object attracted architects, but also its functional purpose: in fact, it was necessary to design a universal space that would facilitate the organization of the most diverse leisure activities, and raise the cultural and educational level of visitors. Of course, such formulations are more likely to originate from the vocabulary of the constructivists of the 1920s, but, according to the contestants themselves, it was very important for them to feel themselves the successors of a wonderful tradition, to develop it in accordance with the needs of today.
However, despite the parallels drawn, the architects did not take the path of borrowing the architectural forms of constructivism. The island itself played a key role in shaping - a unique place where people from prehistoric times lived in harmony with nature. Since the project was competitive, the "ABV Group" from the very beginning decided to develop two maximally different options. One of them, which as a result was chosen by the customer, was based on the characteristic for Sakhalin relief form - low mountain ranges, a pile of rocks, sections of layered soils covered with erosion. According to the authors themselves, the general scheme of the plan resembles a lizard that crawled up a hill and warmed itself in the sun. Much attention in the project is paid to climatic features - Sakhalin has a rather hot and long summer and a very cold snowy winter - as well as issues of seismic safety of the future complex. It was the latter circumstance that largely dictated the compositional solution of the center: the building was designed as a two-story building and has a three-part structure. A cinema hall, a lecture hall, an exhibition hall, conference halls, a computer class and a special room, which in the event of an earthquake can serve as a refuge and a control center, are freely occupied by cells of an irregularly drawn plan.
The main volume is located on the top of a hill and has a flat exploited roof, designed as a spacious observation deck, from which a magnificent view of the ocean opens. A separate external staircase leads to it, from a bird's eye view it clearly resembles a lizard's paw. The remaining parts of the acute-angled volume are covered with pitched roofs and descend along the hillside, making the building look like a mountain range. This feeling is enhanced by the ribbon windows, which divide the concrete surface of the wall at different angles, and the facades decorated with a bright pattern, referring to the national costume of the Ainu, a people who once lived in this part of Sakhalin, prevent the volume from completely merging with the landscape. It is interesting that part of the ornament is planned to be made three-dimensional, and part to be applied to glass, which will create a beautiful play of shadows in the interior.
And if in this project proposal the architects created a single structure, then in another version of the concept each functional area is taken out into its own volume, and they, in turn, are united by the glass space of the hall. In this case, the authors also looked for inspiration in the surrounding nature, but not on land, but in the ocean. The complex, assembled from scattered volumes, resembles islands scattered over endless expanses of water, or sloping pebble stones, which are very abundant on the local coast. The housings, as already mentioned, are interconnected by a transparent structure: the glass structure of the domes is supported by the wooden ribs of the exoskeleton of each of the volumes, which are movably fixed on the base and thereby make the entire structure seismic resistant. In addition, the lamellas fixed between the ribs are conceived as pivoting, with their help it is possible to regulate the amount of sunlight that enters the building, thereby significantly saving the cost of air conditioning the complex.
The customer found this version of the concept of a community center to be very interesting, but much more complex from a constructive point of view, and therefore made a choice in favor of the first proposal. It is planned to build a cultural center in the very near future - and the building, whose roof resembles both origami and a mountain range, will become a new symbol of Sakhalin.
