Sergey Choban
SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov, the author of the project of the palace of water sports in Kazan. “We started work on the water sports stadium in Kazan after we won the competition, which was held by the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan and the administration of the city of Kazan. With this project, we went through all the stages of design and construction - from concept development to support of working documentation and implementation of field supervision. In addition, from the very beginning, we wanted this project to be implemented by Kazan builders, and the manufacturers of building materials were predominantly Russian, and we managed to implement this.
The architectural image of this building is based on several very important ideas. First of all, I wanted to create a large and expressive volume, perceived as a single one both from the outside, and especially from the inside. The temple of sports, which has a very calm but impetuous shape. We decided to make the main structure of wood-glued frames and thereby create an atmosphere of warmth and comfort in this huge room, to make the structural skeleton of the building itself environmentally friendly. In addition, the motif of pointed arches formed by wooden structures is close to the traditional architecture of Tatarstan - it was very important for us to rely on national architectural traditions in order to contextually link, preserve the memory of the place.
Also, the exterior of the building had to clearly show that it was a water sports stadium. Smooth, swift lines outlining the building, a sloping facade from the river side, an eaves protruding in the entrance area, large glass and stainless steel end windows - all these elements emphasize the purpose of the complex, play on the theme of speed and water. The "concentric" circles at the ends, formed by polished and brushed stainless steel, are supported by colored bluish-gray lines on the glass of the main façade, which at the same time provide the necessary sun protection. And inside, the drawing, applied to the glass, is supported by the outlines of wooden frames that support the structure of the glass stained-glass windows.
When developing the solution for the main facade, we were faced with an agonizing choice of material. At first it was planned to use building glass, but doubts arose about its durability and reliability during further operation, so it was decided to replace it with printed glass. We very often use this material in our projects, and it seemed to us that here it is more than appropriate. Let me emphasize that printing on glass is very difficult, since windows are located behind the panels in the second layer, and in order not to interfere with the penetration of natural light into the room and view from the windows, in their places the raster of printing points on glass panels is made more rare.
In the interior of the Kazan stadium, the central place is occupied by a jumping tower - a key design element of all world water sports stadiums. We know very interesting examples, like, say, the Zaha Hadid tower at the water sports stadium built for the London Olympics, and we wanted to contribute to this gallery. We have a vertical structure with balanced, but slightly curved jumping platforms. The tower follows the soft, elastic lines inherent in the entire building. In the stadium, after all, there is not a single strictly vertical or horizontal line, they all bend slightly, create elasticity comparable to the movement of a swimmer moving at high speed. We wanted to depict the same forceful movement in all elements of the building - in the form of stained glass windows, stands and, including in the tower."
Sergey Kuznetsov
SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov, the author of the project of the palace of water sports in Kazan.“We started to work on the project of the water sports palace in Kazan following the results of the competitive selection in 2009. The designer was chosen by the organizing committee and the people responsible for the Universiade. And I would immediately like to say a lot of compliments to the team preparing for the Universiade - they had a clear plan to build facilities at the highest level. Our colleagues from Tatarstan did not rely only on their own strength, but tried to attract the best Russian and world experience.
At that moment, I periodically visited Tatarstan, working on other objects, and I heard that there was a search for designers for the water sports palace. To participate in this competitive selection, it was required to show the organizers their work experience and go through a series of interviews. This cannot be called a competition in the full sense, it was precisely the selection of candidates. We decided to take part in it together with the English company Arup, did a serious research on similar structures, studied the typology, thought about what know-how can be used to build a serious and significant, but at the same time economical facility. Saving money was then one of the most important criteria, since Tatarstan did not have the resources that were, say, in Sochi in preparation for the Olympic Games. We had to meet a rather limited budget - 2.5 billion rubles, which is quite modest for a facility with five thousand seats, two Olympic-size pools and one jump bath. Having tried to take into account all possible factors and having decided on the dimensions of the structure, we prepared our draft conceptual proposal for the sports cluster in the shortest possible time. My boss Nikolai Gordyushin and I summed up the result and finished work on the final serve literally in a hotel in Kazan. The next day I presented our concept to the organizing committee. Based on the results of this presentation, it was decided to entrust the project to our office. So we entered the project together with PSO Kazan, which acted as a contractor and at the same time a technical customer.
The concept is based on a very simple and understandable scheme, which we identified by examining a number of similar sports facilities. For example, we visited water sports palaces in Manchester and Sheffield and saw that they use an economical linear arrangement of baths and stands along them. Relatively speaking, this is a large box with a repeating section of structures. We took this scheme as a basis and developed it, since our object was much larger in size than what we saw.
The main idea and highlight of the project was the construction of glued wood. Today the Kazan Palace is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. We are terribly sorry that today wood construction in Russia is not very well developed, and we just wanted to reverse this trend, to show that wood is an excellent material for solving the most complex problems - both constructive and artistic. Yes, it was a little more expensive to build a building of a sports palace out of wood than building in metal, but we managed to convince the customer, find an economical solution and still implement a beautiful wooden structure, which became the basis for the formation of the image of the entire palace. We managed to combine a lot in one image - bent arches of a wooden structure refer to Muslim traditions, and the image of an arcade of Gothic cathedrals can also be traced (at that time Sergey Tchoban and I were very fond of drawing Gothic cathedrals). The motif of lancet vaults, going into perspective, has become one of the most striking artistic images.
The frame was the semantic axis on which we strung all the other elements. Outside, of course, the structure is not read so literally, since we decided not to risk it and not to lead the tree through heat / cold (in warmer climates, this is, of course, possible). But inside the main character of the interior is the wooden structure. It is the main element that shapes the space. Everyone who has already visited the palace said that this is absolutely amazing.
Further, already in the process of work, the idea came to veneer the palace with wavy glass in combination with metal, a large extension of the visor of the entrance group arose, the idea of printing a pattern depicting a water surface on large glass elements appeared. In general, we initially emphasize the theme of water, and not only because it is a water sports palace, but also because it was built on the banks of the Kazanka River on artificially created landfills. Previously, there was a flooded area, a leash going under the water. The complex stands on a podesta so as not to go into the water, because the bowls, especially the jump ones, have a very deep base. It was a difficult engineering decision. One can debate about printing on glass, which is perceived by many as a direct quote. I see it as a creative move - in my opinion, quite simple and expressive. Yes, printing on glass is a direct reference to water, but there is also an indirect one. The side facades were made in an alternation of polished and polished elements, which were placed on top of each other like gills.
The special pride of the project is the design jumping tower. This is my favorite story, we drew it for a very long time, thought about how to cast it. The result is a real art object, made in a plant form - very characteristic of Islam.
Today, for me, this is one of the most important projects and the first such large-scale facility built in Russia. The amount of effort put into its implementation and the degree of personal involvement is incredibly great. These are three years of regular trips to Kazan, constant interaction with local designers and builders. For me, the Kazan palace has become almost a relative. But the most important thing is that I am satisfied with the result, because the project was implemented at the highest level."
Nikolay Gordyushin
SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov, chief architect of the water sports palace project in Kazan. “The design site is located on the left bank of the Kazanka River, in the center of the city, directly opposite the Kremlin. Previously, these were flooded, swampy areas. An artificial foundation had to be made for the construction of the complex. From the very beginning, we had a desire to make a rather serious constructive decision taking into account the aggressive environment - water and constant condensation. We decided that wood is the most suitable material for this. We discussed this solution for a long time, but agreed on the use of wooden glued beams. This is how the shape and geometry of the building was born. The developer had a lot of questions and doubts, many people said that it was impossible to implement it. But we managed to convince them.
Then the question arose about the exterior decoration of the palace, and, of course, the style of water prevailed here. The main facade was originally supposed to be made of glass profiles, which were widely used in Soviet times. But the customer misunderstood this decision, and we refused it, instead offering printing on glass, which also refers to water motives. The sloping wall facing the river is designed with panels stacked one on top of the other.
In order to protect the interior from direct sunlight, frosted glass is used. The lighting requirements for competition pools are very strict, and it is necessary to ensure that there is no glare on the water. When filming a competition, it is very important that the light entering the room from the outside is not brighter than the indoor lighting. Therefore, it was necessary to tint the glass, not excluding the penetration of natural light. It took a lot of effort to find the right percentage of lighting. We also did a serious acoustic analysis, calculated the air movement. In short, it was a very serious job. The result is an advanced facility in Russia in terms of physical and functional capabilities. Therefore, even the World Championship was decided to be held in Kazan.
The palace has three swimming pools. The main bowl under the jumping tower measures 33x25 m. This pool can host diving, water polo, short distance swimming and synchronized swimming competitions. Moreover, there is a lifting floor, the depth of which varies from six to zero meters. In the second pool, 50 m long, the floor also rises, however, only in one half of it. A sliding divider allows you to divide the bowl space to swim for different distances. The third pool, 50x25 m, has a constant depth and is used as a training pool. In addition, there is a large fitness club in the building, and this pool is supposed to be used for commercial purposes.
We must pay tribute to the customer: he was very sensitive to all our proposals. Even the design tower, depicted as a kind of art object, was unconditionally realized by the customer, despite the fact that it was very difficult and expensive, he had to order complex formwork at an aircraft factory. But in the end, it turned out to be the main and most expressive element of the interior, with all that it has all the foreseen parameters of a competitive jumping tower.
The whole complex is a serious engineering and architectural structure, the implementation of which we were satisfied with. A large group of local designers dealing with detailed design worked with us, and they performed their part of the work very efficiently, exactly according to our drawings. We constantly came to Kazan for consultations, conducted field supervision, constantly communicated with local designers. And the whole team, which is about a hundred people of designers, worked very well”.
