“An object of such significance and scale, located in such an exceptional location, demanded a clear, precise, and at the same time, vivid and unique statement. We understood that this should become an event for the city”- say the architects of DNA about their project.
The project is carefully worked out in a figurative, functional and constructive sense - this is an important advantage, but another thing is interesting, namely, the ability of architects, having got used to the context, to find in it a grain of acutely modern content that is close to them and to develop it. The project is relevant and sculptural, and at the same time, if I may say so, it is doubly cautious about the legacy of the 1950s and its surroundings. On the one hand, the architects in their project have preserved everything that could and should have been preserved from the original 1956: a box of walls, a figurative relief, impressive bundles of columns along the side facades. On the other hand, they contrastingly set off all these classics with a plastic volume, and the new parts do not touch the old ones, they can be easily distinguished from the historical ones.
It is all the more exciting to discover in this modern project completely contextual omens, continuing the theme of Luzhniki. The symmetry and restraint of the volume of the "ship" strung on one of the main axes of the ensemble is not the main thing. More important is the proximity of the classic column of the "base" and the technogenic top - we see something similar in the building of the sports arena, where a dome-shaped canopy, built in 1997, rises above the thin blades and pylons. The DNA project picks up and develops the theme of juxtaposing the old and the new, which had already been instilled by the Luzhniki stadiums earlier - this is the second, if I may say so, the active layer of its contextuality: architects find surrounded not only by a symmetrical ensemble into which they fit their project - they also discover there is an inner contrast in it and develop it in their concept. Below is a detailed story about the project. Julia Tarabarina ***
Luzhniki town planning ensemble
The pool building is perfectly visible from Vorobyovy Gory, the Third Ring and many other vantage points. Compositionally, it is subordinated to the visor-dome of the Big Sports Arena, playing the role of "right hand" in a symmetrical three-part ensemble. The architects focused on the urban planning significance of the pool, and, having entered into a plastic and spatial dialogue with the central volume, they placed a streamlined volume in the stone frame of the existing pool building, reminiscent of a ship, either sea or air. Its symmetrical rounded shape echoes the dome of the arena, while supporting it with its rather large mass; the pool's place in the ensemble is a little more prominent than it used to be, although it in no way argues with the arena's gigantic scope. The symmetry of the new volume also echoes the symmetry of the historic facades of the preserved contour of the pool building.
The main urban planning idea is supported by the landscaping concept and the master plan of the site. According to the author's idea, visitors should move from the metro along the main axis connecting the pool with the Big arena (and further - the big arena with the small arena); the axis was highlighted with a paving pattern and evening lighting. Avenues of trees with a chain of fountains are designed to create an atmosphere of the water element already on the way to the water center. The gradual lowering of the level of the square in front of the main entrance symbolizes the gradual immersion in the world of water elements.
Image and character - clarity and simplicity
Creating the image of the "ship", the architects started from the properties of the space formed by the stands of the existing outdoor pool. There are three tribunes, and on the fourth side the pool is open towards the Grand Arena - a new volume was formed in it for a reason, but proceeding from the internal properties of the original space.
“In our project, we transform this space into a bowl-shaped streamlined facade shell, which stands“on the slipways”of the existing gallery with a colonnade,” the authors say. - The internal structure is formed around large atriums completely glazed from above with an axial orientation to the Grand Arena and the Third Transport Ring, the cantilever parts of the building in the interior form the terraced beaches-stands of the water park. In this way, we maintain the spatial feel of the historic pool building, despite the modification of function, volume and shape."
The main plastic idea of the project was reflected in the emblem of the new building proposed by the authors.
"There is a distant association with shipbuilding" - the authors cautiously comment: "yacht, liner, ark" - they immediately clarify. The ark on this list comes in very handy - we connect our imagination and see a large forefather's boat, - here, the water slept, the rainbow is shining, and the craft is attached to a convenient place, gracefully, in contrast, complementing its antiquated pedestal. Such a contrast should have attracted the attention of Muscovites and guests of the capital …
But the comparison with a space liner seems more accurate: light curved lines, a neat but intricately rounded surface - and the window of an imaginary "captain's cabin" facing Komsomolsky Prospect, subordinate to the symmetry of the main axis, on which the volume is strung and leaving no doubt that the eastern the facade is the main one (the entrance to the left is emphasized by a smooth depression)
The architects also developed a night lighting project that develops their main idea: they emphasized the classicism of the historical part with warm light, highlighting the rhythm of the gallery columns and the facade relief. The illuminated bowl accentuates the modernity of its rounded shape. And the giant, convex and shiny console of the main facade at night would reflect the glare, and even the contours of the swimmers, from the water park on the ground floor (there is a children's baby-zone). External illumination alternates with the internal glow of large glass surfaces; The triangular lattice of the internal structure visible in the light contrasts with the roundness of the outer surfaces, sharpening the senses and adding a slight note of lattice ephemeral to the large form.
Dialogue between the new and the old
According to the TOR of the competition, the architects kept the north-west wall with bas-reliefs and the colonnades of the north and south (side) walls, designed in classical forms. A dynamic new volume is built into the perimeter without touching the old walls.
“The warm, light shade of the shell of the new volume works in dialogue with the classic terracotta of the facades of the historical part,” the architects say. The interaction of the old and the new, thus, is not solved by the addition or subordination of one part to another, but is based on a dialogue of equal and complementary parts. The spaces of the galleries behind the colonnades are used in the summer as open terraces for visitors to the water center and cafes on the south side, and are open to public access on the north side."
The reality of implementation (design and budget)
The authors also fit into the organizational constraints of the competition: the participants were required to develop a design scheme and a budget estimate, so that immediately after the completion of the competition, it was possible to proceed with further design and construction.
Below, the architects of DNA tell in detail about the design solutions of the project:
“The budget assessment of the main structures and facade finishing showed that our project fits into the parameters indicated by the organizers. Moreover, realizing the non-standard nature of our solution, for safety reasons, we calculated the production of our facades from 3 different manufacturers, including Russian ones.
The designs for our project were developed by a group of Russian engineers led by the most experienced designer Vladimir Ilyich Travush. And despite the conceptuality of the building's form, its constructive scheme is quite simple and absolutely real.
The internal structural scheme of the building is a reinforced concrete monolithic frame, consisting of columns of various sections; walls of vertical communications play the role of stiffness cores. Floor slabs, including those that include all pool bowls, are monolithic reinforced concrete and rest on this frame. Large-span trusses are provided for the consoles, which are also ties along the upper chords of the supporting mesh shell. The façade cladding is then attached to this steel frame.
The translucent coverings of the atriums (the span of one of them is 36x54 m, the second is 60 m in diameter) are made of a space-bar structure.
The project provides for a sliding roof over the water park.
Two of the four segments of the round lantern are installed slightly higher in level and made movable. The flaps are pivoted 90 ° relative to the center of the circle above the fixed segments, opening the dome by 45%. The shutters are moved horizontally along circular guide rails located around the circumference of the dome and near its center.
The outer walls of the "bowl" volume are a load-bearing lattice steel shell structure 1.8 meters thick with a cell size of 3 meters. The spatial design of the shell helps to provide cantilever overhangs of 36 meters. From the outside, the shell was planned to be finished with flat panels of two types of transparency, but of the same type of triangular shape (1.5 m).
15% of the panels are conceived as "transparent" as double-glazed units: the outer glass, partially painted in white around the transparent round "window", forms a translucent pattern. In the interior, such panels are perceived as portholes. The panels are fixed in a façade structural glazing system, which is fixed to the supporting lattice structure of the shell. 85% of the panels are "opaque". They are installed together with thermal insulation sandwich panels, covering them from the outside.
Internal structure. Atriums - Courtyards
Inside, the water center is divided into two parts with different functions, grouped around two large atriums with translucent lanterns. The space is permeable: from one part you can see the other: the wellness, fitness and children's pool can be seen from the water park, and from the swimming pool you can see the gyms and the restaurant. The connectivity of all ground areas and their free accessibility is also provided by the central core, consisting of panoramic elevators and a grand staircase. They can be used by any visitor to get to know the structure of the center or to get to the stands of the swimming pool. Further on the floors, visitors will meet the reception desks of individual areas of the complex. The restaurant and fitness center can also be accessed from outside: they have their own elevators and independent entrances. “Wet zones” (aqua and wellness centers and sports pools) are connected by a “clean” vertical core: having undressed at the lower level, you can move between them in a swimsuit.
The restaurant hall is designed in such a way that the maximum number of visitors can enjoy the opening panorama. A glass interior stained-glass window overlooking the double-height space of the sports section allows you to watch the sports competitions and training sessions below from the restaurant.
Function
The building of the water center includes: a water park with a wellness center, a sports center with a 50-meter and children's training pool, a fitness center, a restaurant, a shopping gallery with small shops and cafes.
In general, following the terms of reference in the distribution of functions, the architects made their own improvements to it that could simplify the movement of visitors inside: the wellness center, which was moved from the third to the second level closer to the water park, became a continuation of its terraced beaches. The authors, on the contrary, raised the sports pools to the same level with the training halls, thus spreading sports and entertainment along different horizons. In conditions where the upper elevation of the building was rigidly fixed, the described improvement made it possible to increase the ceilings in the water park, making its space more spacious.
Viewpoints and cardinal orientation
From the inside of the building, stunning views of the surrounding landscape open up, which could not be overlooked when forming the internal structure of functional zones and terraces. The orientation of the building to the cardinal points was also taken into account: the restaurant in the western part received views of the sunset, the Grand Arena and the City, supplemented by an exit to the south terrace. In the eastern part there is a fitness center and a multifunctional gym with a panoramic view of Leninsky Prospekt. From the south - a phytobar and a terrace overlooking the Vorobyovy Gory.
Interior
In interior solutions, we tried to follow the general concept of the project. Light, dynamic and at the same time comfortable and inviting to rest, by the atmosphere they are associated with the image of modern yachts and liners."
