ECOM activity in August 2009

Announcements from ECOM translated from Russian
31.08.09

“Okhta-Center” only needs a height of 37 meters in order to meet all its public obligations.

(See http://www.ecom.su/news/index.php?id=1267 for the Russian original of the text below.)

A study of the data provided by the Joint Stock Company (JSC) “Public-Business Center (PBC) Okhta” at an exhibition in the administrative offices of the Krasnogvardeiskii district has shown that all of the planned square footage can be accommodated by the existing site with a construction height of 37 to 46 meters. Thus it is clear that there is no need for the construction of a skyscraper in the “Okhta-Center” complex—not even an economic need.

In spite of the fact that the topic of hearing set for September is the degree to which the proposed site for the construction of “Okhta-Center” is inappropriate for building, the construction company JSC “Public-Business Center Okhta” continues to insist that the erection of tall buildings is dictated not only by the physical characteristics of the site but also by economic factors. In a note of clarification shared at an exhibition preceding the hearing, we read: “The expenses of the investor-builder on acquisition and rent of building sites and real estate to be located on it, on conduction of engineering analysis and removal of construction debris, on preparation of the territory, on the conduction of archaeological studies unprecedented in scale on the entire site and its environs, on removal of engineering infrastructure, on the creation of new engineering and transportation infrastructure (construction of an electricity station, laying of infrastructural materials, reconstruction of transportation onramps, building of new roads, tunnels and bridges, the establishment of a linear park) are significant.” For the project to make a return on investment, the total area of the complex must be not less than 310 thousand square meters, out of which, true, 103 thousand square meters go towards an underground four-level parking garage. In this manner, for structures with public-business and social-cultural functions there must be allotted 209 thousand square meters. According to the declaration of the builder, the indicated area is impossible to accommodate on the site without erecting a 400-meter-high skyscraper.

Experts from the Research Center ECOM conducted a thorough arithmetic analysis of the data presented by the PBC “Okhta” and came to unexpected conclusions. “We agree with the assertion that it is necessary to construct about 250 thousand square meters of floor area in order to achieve a usable area of 209 thousand square meters, accounting for the building’s engineering structures and so forth,” says Alexander Karpov, director of ECOM. “We are even ready to agree that the median ceiling height of each story in the complex would be 5.2 meters. But further, you have to do the math on the calculator.”

The constructed volume of the above-ground portion of the complex, allowing for a median ceiling height of 5.2 meters is derived from 251, 160 sq. m. x 5.2 m, thus 1, 306, 032 cubic meters. This volume must be accommodated by a site with an area of 47, 130 sq. m. However, the structure must not be too dense: according to construction norms and rules, in order to assure adequate insolation and natural lighting, and also in accord with fire safety and other security regulations, we take the coefficient of floor ratio to be 0.6. Therefore, the area occupied by building on the site may be calculated as 47, 130 sq. m. x 0.6, yielding 28, 278 sq. m. It remains only to divide the total volume of built premises by the area of the building, and we can derive the probable height: 1, 306, 032 cubic meters divided by 28, 278 square meters, giving us 46.2 meters.

That is, everything that “Okhta-Center” promises to the residents of Krasnogvardeiskii district – the Gazprom offices and its subsidiaries, the health and fitness center, the institutions of culture and art, health care and education, as well as restaurants, cafes and even a laundry and dry cleaner – all this can be accommodated on the site without exceeding the legally designated height of 48 meters.

Further, if we take the ceiling height not as 5.2 meters, as proposed in the glossy brochure at the exhibition, but, for example, as 4.2 meters (as in the note of clarification on the project), then the average height of the construction could be 37 meters.

It’s true that the builder, offering documentation for exceeding the height parameters, insisted that a large part of the site is unfit for construction, since some of our cultural heritage is located there – the fortress Nienshans and buffer zones for tunnel collectors and lots of other stuff. However, this did not stop the designers from planning on the site a multilevel parking garage which will occupy in a single mass not merely 60 but 77 per cent of the site. This includes that territory on which once was located our cultural heritage.

The conclusion of the arithmetic study is unequivocal: all of the needed premises for Zone 1 of “Okhta-Center” could be accommodated above the underground parking (on the foundation) in several buildings without violation of the height regulation and other parameters set by the St. Petersburg Rules on Land Use and Construction. Which, we remind you, were adopted by the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and signed by the City Governor in February 2009.


Announcement
28.08.09
The official text of the decision of the 33rd Session of UNESCO about St. Petersburg has been published (July 2009).

In 2010, the historical center of Petersburg may be entered onto the List of World Heritage Sites in danger—and thus may end up in the same group as Afghanistan, Iraq, the Central African Republic and other states that have suffered from war or Third-World status.

See http://www.ecom.su/news/index.php?id=1265 for Russian original and http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1910 for the text of the UNESCO document.

Announcement
27.08.09
Instructions have been published for builders and legal site owners: “How to build in St. Petersburg without paying attention to the Rules on Land Use and Construction. Part 1: Instructions for preparation of documents for approval.”

See http://ecom.su/news/index.php?id=1264 for the entire text.

The instructions were prepared based on the text of “Note of clarification to the application for a variance from the maximum allowed heights made by the Joint Stock Company "Public Business Center Okhta.” The original of this note is also provided at the above link.