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he Cube: Skolkovo's flagship building revealed
As the flagship building of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre, nears completion, Russia Now looks at its hi-tech and eco credentials.
Office of the future: the innovative and eco-friendly Cube is Skolkovo's flagship building
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As The Cube, the flagship building of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre, nears
completion, Russia Now looks at its hi-tech and eco credentials.
Just as the recent opening of the Shard buildingin London recently caused huge
waves of excitement, a new glass and concrete structure is about to cause a
similar sensation in Russia.
Known as The Cube, the building will be the first completed building of the
400-acre Skolkovo Innovation Centre, the hi-tech park currently being built
just outside Moscow. It is scheduled for completion this autumn.
Skolkovo, often called Russia’s Silicon Valley, has eco-efficiency planning at
its heart. Transport will be dominated by bicycles and electric cars, while
green alleys and walkways will be the main thoroughfares.
Utilities will be regulated by a single electronic network – developed by
international giant Cisco – which is capable of monitoring energy
consumption and altering traffic patterns to optimise usage.
The chairman of the Skolkovo Fund’s construction committee, Jean Pistre, says that the plans will allow the new city to avoid the common problems facing other metropolises, such as traffic congestion, overpopulation and inefficient grid patterns. Added to this, a single platform for ordering any kind of service or product – from pizza to a doctor’s visit – will save time and energy. The architects also promise that more than half of the city’s energy requirement will come from renewable sources.
As the flagship building of Skolkovo, The Cube is suitably packed with eco-friendly, technological solutions. Externally, it is covered on all sides by solar panels, and a stainless-steel mesh front allows the building to be turned into a giant screen for displaying images, messages or advertising.
The only external connection is the power line. Solar-cell batteries are installed on one wall. They don’t generate enough power for the entire building but they suffice to light one or two floors at night. Heating is provided by heat-pump units which use ground energy. There are no ordinary radiators; split systems are installed on ceilings.
The water supply is also unconventional: water is pumped from an artesian well and waste water is treated and then used for watering landscaped areas.
The windows are huge, to allow as much natural light as possible. Normally, Russian buildings don’t have big windows for fear of losing precious heat. However, special heat convectors installed in the building create an air curtain that keeps the temperature in the building stable. Furthermore, light conductors allow sun rays into the centrally located rooms.
Waste disposal is another smart solution: all waste is recycled in the building and is transformed into household gas. Meanwhile, the interior will consist of easily adjustable panels to allow for changes in layout. Anton Yakovenko, general director of the Skolkovo administration, commented: “We aimed to keep it ascetic, both inside and outside. It is split into clear sections; we decided against fancy finishing.”
The architect of the Skolkovo Cube, Boris Bernaskoni, might have been inspired by Andrzej Sekuła’s sci-fi thriller Hypercube when he chose the framework concept for the building. In the film, the characters are trapped inside a cube-shaped building constructed by an undisclosed genius. It has partitions dividing it into smaller cubes and each of these cells has unique properties: some make time run faster; some distort space. Although Bernaskoni’s Cube can’t claim to do either of these things, it has, nevertheless, been dubbed “The Hypercube” by many for its resemblance to the fictional building.
The Cube certainly provides a revolution in office space. There are seven floors, the first of which will feature the reception and cafés. The second floor will have the offices of the key Skolkovo partners, which include IBM, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel and Cisco. The third floor will be given over to the companies working on innovation projects with Skolkovo support. The fourth will feature a vast conference hall, with a capacity that can be transformed for any type of event. Indeed, the building is intended to be the primary venue for the 2014 G8 summit in Russia.
The remaining three floors will most likely accommodate more offices of companies dealing with Skolkovo startups (all in all, a total of 16 companies have been authorised to have their offices in the building).
Maxim Kiselev, the chief development officer of the technopark, explains: “The Cube will be of major importance to its tenants and their promotion, as it will essentially be one giant showroom for everyone working there. It is The Cube that will welcome top-level delegations and individual visitors, including heads of state and representatives of the international investment community. It is an important factor for the residents, as they will be able to meet potential investors.
“The Cube building and Skolkovo’s infrastructure are based on the innovative open space concept, and should become models for building up the Skolkovo ecosystem.”
According to Andrei Potapov, head of the microsatellite constructor Sputniks, which will soon be renting office space in The Cube, the technology potential is very high and the area is open to transformation offers.
“The first Innocity (Innovation City) building has lots of hidden reserves and surprises that tenants and architects will learn about later”, he says.
The chairman of the Skolkovo Fund’s construction committee, Jean Pistre, says that the plans will allow the new city to avoid the common problems facing other metropolises, such as traffic congestion, overpopulation and inefficient grid patterns. Added to this, a single platform for ordering any kind of service or product – from pizza to a doctor’s visit – will save time and energy. The architects also promise that more than half of the city’s energy requirement will come from renewable sources.
As the flagship building of Skolkovo, The Cube is suitably packed with eco-friendly, technological solutions. Externally, it is covered on all sides by solar panels, and a stainless-steel mesh front allows the building to be turned into a giant screen for displaying images, messages or advertising.
The only external connection is the power line. Solar-cell batteries are installed on one wall. They don’t generate enough power for the entire building but they suffice to light one or two floors at night. Heating is provided by heat-pump units which use ground energy. There are no ordinary radiators; split systems are installed on ceilings.
The water supply is also unconventional: water is pumped from an artesian well and waste water is treated and then used for watering landscaped areas.
The windows are huge, to allow as much natural light as possible. Normally, Russian buildings don’t have big windows for fear of losing precious heat. However, special heat convectors installed in the building create an air curtain that keeps the temperature in the building stable. Furthermore, light conductors allow sun rays into the centrally located rooms.
Waste disposal is another smart solution: all waste is recycled in the building and is transformed into household gas. Meanwhile, the interior will consist of easily adjustable panels to allow for changes in layout. Anton Yakovenko, general director of the Skolkovo administration, commented: “We aimed to keep it ascetic, both inside and outside. It is split into clear sections; we decided against fancy finishing.”
The architect of the Skolkovo Cube, Boris Bernaskoni, might have been inspired by Andrzej Sekuła’s sci-fi thriller Hypercube when he chose the framework concept for the building. In the film, the characters are trapped inside a cube-shaped building constructed by an undisclosed genius. It has partitions dividing it into smaller cubes and each of these cells has unique properties: some make time run faster; some distort space. Although Bernaskoni’s Cube can’t claim to do either of these things, it has, nevertheless, been dubbed “The Hypercube” by many for its resemblance to the fictional building.
The Cube certainly provides a revolution in office space. There are seven floors, the first of which will feature the reception and cafés. The second floor will have the offices of the key Skolkovo partners, which include IBM, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel and Cisco. The third floor will be given over to the companies working on innovation projects with Skolkovo support. The fourth will feature a vast conference hall, with a capacity that can be transformed for any type of event. Indeed, the building is intended to be the primary venue for the 2014 G8 summit in Russia.
The remaining three floors will most likely accommodate more offices of companies dealing with Skolkovo startups (all in all, a total of 16 companies have been authorised to have their offices in the building).
Maxim Kiselev, the chief development officer of the technopark, explains: “The Cube will be of major importance to its tenants and their promotion, as it will essentially be one giant showroom for everyone working there. It is The Cube that will welcome top-level delegations and individual visitors, including heads of state and representatives of the international investment community. It is an important factor for the residents, as they will be able to meet potential investors.
“The Cube building and Skolkovo’s infrastructure are based on the innovative open space concept, and should become models for building up the Skolkovo ecosystem.”
According to Andrei Potapov, head of the microsatellite constructor Sputniks, which will soon be renting office space in The Cube, the technology potential is very high and the area is open to transformation offers.
“The first Innocity (Innovation City) building has lots of hidden reserves and surprises that tenants and architects will learn about later”, he says.
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