Almost 20 years ago, when Kazakhstan moved its capital, the city of Astana did not exist, but there was Akmola: dull block houses in the vast steppe, which seemed to be a relic of the past. After years of explosive economic growth, fueled by oil and gas revenues, Astana has become a modern city dominated by glittering skyscrapers and Western-style shopping malls. The city became a place of architectural experimentation: world celebrities such as Kisho Kurokawa (master plan), Norman Foster and Manfredi Nicoletti were attracted to the work, who turned Astana into "Manhattan in the Steppe".
More than 10 skyscrapers were built in recent years in Astana, and one more - again from a world famous company - there will be more of them in the near future. Now in the capital of Kazakhstan, the Talan Towers complex is being built according to the project of the American architectural bureau
SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), which previously created the # 1 tower of the new World Trade Center in New York and the tallest building in the world, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The Talan Towers project has been implemented since 2013 in the very center of Astana - just opposite the Astana-Baiterek monument and not far from Abu Dhabi Plaza - the tallest skyscraper in Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole (under construction, design height 382 m). The neighborhood will be worthy. According to the chief architect of Talan Towers Pablo de Miguel, the concept is based on "a dialogue between the project and the Baiterek monument" (simplicity and elegance of forms), and the complex itself should become a new architectural landmark of the capital of Kazakhstan.
Talan Towers with a total area of 120,000 m2 includes a three-story podium with two towers of different heights. The 26-storey high-rise 119 m high will house housing, a sky bar, a 1000 m dance hall2 (capacity up to 1000 people), a conference hall and a hotel for 160 rooms of The Ritz-Carlton chain (interior design - from the British firm Richmond).
The elder brother, a 30-storey tower with a height of 145 m, boasts a class A + business center with offices of the largest local and foreign companies, high-speed elevators with a waiting period of no more than 30 seconds and ceilings with a height of 3.2 meters. As in other rooms, there is an open plan with a column pitch of 8.4 meters (open space).
The three-story catwalk will house a shopping gallery of renowned luxury brands, restaurants, a fitness center and spa, and a rooftop park. It is expected that green roofs and energy saving technologies (reducing energy consumption by 20%) will give the Talan Towers the right to be called the first "green" building in Kazakhstan that meets high LEED standards. Investment in the project is estimated at $ 350 million.
Completion of construction is scheduled for 2016. Finishing work is underway in the complex, and the facade cladding is being completed. The lattice structure of reinforced concrete and glass takes on its final appearance. The facade is decorated with golden-beige slabs, which were recently supplied to Astana by the company within the framework of this project.
Solnhofen Stone Group (SSG). In total, about 15,000 m2 of SSG façade slabs from Maxberg Jurassic marble in polished processing will be used.
Jurassic marble is used all over the world to decorate status buildings, and in Moscow it is used to decorate the facades and entrance groups of Garden Quarters, Barkli Virgin House, Houses on Trubetskoy and many other objects; and once the appearance of entire cities, for example, Rome in ancient times, was determined by this noble material - marble.
The choice of material - and especially its color scheme - looks justified in Astana as well. Two towers of golden color, faced with wide vertical rows of slabs of Jurassic marble, resemble giant sheaves of wheat from virgin fields, echoing and supporting the symbol of the country - "Baiterek". And in summer, at dawn, when a haze envelops the entire city, or at sunset, when the rays of the hot continental sun penetrate Astana, the Talan Towers complex absorbs and reflects these golden solar streams and is already no less impressive than other high-status skyscrapers of the new capital of Kazakhstan.
