With the main challenge of providing an environment for the prosperous IT business incubator in Kharkov city, the design by ZA Architects creates favorable conditions for the creation and development of the new ideas in the multi-component environment. The design backbone is the provocation of communication between people, casual acquaintances, experience sharing, receiving of new knowledge and social events of all kinds. More images and architects’ description after the break.
As a skeleton for all functions, the client had selected an abandoned soviet concrete administrative 8-floor building, and a smaller one 3-floor neighboring building. The diversity of new tasks has predetermined total redesign of the internal spaces, replacement of the old facades and addition of new volumes. New functional arrangement is following: basement, 1-st, 2-nd and 3-rd floors of the main building contain mainly public, representative and retail functions.
At the 4-th and 5-th floors there is heart of the whole facility - co-working zone for IT-specialists and small it-enterprises are located. Floors from 6-th to 8-th assigned to let. At neighboring building there are facilities for leisure and sport activities. The territory around buildings must become an attractive vibrant space for visitors. Despite its location on the busy strain street, behind the main front there is a swimming pool, pedistrian fountain, outdor cinema, playgrounds, and volley-ball located.
Space in between the two buildings is considered as a main promenade, which interconnects two buildings and street . As for the facades, main and both side facades of the main building are replaced with the new large-perforated skin. Pattern formed by roundish windows at the evening is able to act as a kind of the low-resolution LED screen, and place running advertising text, or even primitive video games. Back southern facade has large long windows fitted with horizontal photovolatic external blinds.
Architects: ZA Architects
Location: Kharkov, Ukraine
Design Team: Dmitry Zhuikov, Arina Agieieva, Yuri Bendasov, Eugene Chernopissky
Technical Architects: Arcstone
Client: Voomy
Function: Office, public
Type: Renovation
Status: Under construction
Program Area: 13,000 sq.m.
Year: 2012
