Sberbank-City

Situated on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 32, the complex with the eloquent name "Sberbank-City" has a long history with multiple changes of owners and overcoming many difficulties. But today, this complex, consisting of 2 skyscrapers, 10- and 12-story extensions, is turning into a real masterpiece of architecture.

History of Sberbank-City

Construction of the complex at the intersection of the Third Transport Ring, Kulneva Street and Kutuzovsky Avenue began back in the distant end of 2006, and its completion was scheduled for 2013. At that time, it was being built by the private international investment and development corporation Mirax Group, headed by Sergei Polonsky, and was called Suvorov Plaza, although it was also called Mirax Plaza.

A team of renowned architects from the Sergey Kiselev and Partners bureau worked on the project for about a year, including Sergey Kiselev himself, as well as Andrey Nikiforov, Anton Busalov, Gleb Kholopov, Andrey Breslavtsev and Elena Klyueva. According to their plan, the complex was to be transformed into a business microdistrict that would meet high modern standards.

In 2007, Gazpromstroy bought 102,000 square meters of offices from Mirax Group for $650 million, which became the largest deal for the capital's commercial real estate market. But the economic crisis that thundered in 2008 forced the developer to suspend construction when the first 35 meters of the building were already ready. In an attempt to attract investors, Mirax Group launched a promotional campaign called "The Heart of Moscow." As part of it, as darkness fell, a structure in the form of a large heart covered in translucent fabric lit up from the top of the finished floors of the building. It pulsated due to the flickering of 80 kW spotlights, thereby attracting the attention of city residents. A banner was stretched under the giant heart: "Mirax Plaza: the heart of business Moscow."

These actions or others helped the developer attract financing, but by 2009 the complex was already 60% complete. Thus, monolithic works in building D were completed, and almost half of the facades and utility systems were completed. At that time, work in building B stopped at the stage of pouring anti-vibration walls. To complete the construction, the developer needed $250 million, although if he had managed to do this, the cost of Mirax Plaza would have been about $2 billion.

As a result, Mirax Group was forced to cede a total of 77.5% of Mirax Plaza shares to the founder of Stroygazconsulting, Ziyad Manasir, and Promsvyazbank. The deal took place in 2009. In addition, Promsvyazbank additionally bought 15 thousand square meters of offices in Building A.

Even 2 years after the crisis began, the situation remained extremely difficult. Therefore, in 2010, the development company took a $6.5 million loan from Promsvyazbank for construction. $4.5 million was invested in the continuation of the work, but they never led to the completion of the project. In 2011, Sergey Polonsky was unable to continue fulfilling his debt obligations and, having declared bankruptcy, gave Mirax Plaza to shareholders - Stroygazconsulting and Promsvyazbank.

The construction of the complex was continued by the company Stroygazconsulting, and Ruslan Baysarov, who also became one of the co-owners of Mirax Plaza, took charge of the process. But they were also unable to bring the project to a logical conclusion. The company took up the construction of Tower A, and by March 2012 it had grown to the 25th floor. By that time, monolithic work in Building B and the underground parking lot had been finally completed. But in the summer of 2012, work on the site had to be slowed down again, and the project delivery date was postponed to 2015. But by the appointed time, the developer was able to deliver only 2 small buildings and begin glazing Tower A.

As a result of the lack of funds, the complex was transferred to the ownership of Sberbank in 2016 to cover debts. It is engaged in the implementation of the project, and also carries out reconstruction work to this day. As a result of these changes, it was decided to rename the complex. Therefore, today it is called Sberbank-City or simply Sber-City.

History of construction

Mirax Plaza, which was later renamed Sberbank City, is a complex whose core is formed by two glass towers with a laconic, strict silhouette and truncated upper levels. As a result, the slope of the roofs forms a single line passing through both buildings. The skyscrapers have curved facades on one side, and strictly straight on the other. They stand in such a way that they form a free space in the form of an X along the two arcs. The external facades of the buildings are divided by horizontal stone inserts, and the internal ones are practically a monolithic array of glass.

The 10- and 12-story buildings adjacent to the towers serve as a kind of pedestal for them. Their facades are completely in line with the existing buildings on Kutuzovsky Prospekt and are faced with brown stone. But in the future, it is planned to unite all the buildings of Sberbank City with a facade of the same type.

The highlight of the complex is 5 atriums, 7-10 storeys high. The windows in them are completely frameless, but are fixed to reinforced concrete beams with metal cables.

Sergey Kiselev himself said about his project that on the one hand, work on it was easy, since the architects knew about all aspects of the site, in particular the locations of the subway tunnels, the location of the pressure sewer, and were also aware of how the reconstruction of the railway would take place. But on the other hand, they were forced to contend with a complex relief, as well as create a large number of square meters on a relatively small site, so the design of skyscrapers became a forced measure to solve the task. As a result, in 2008, the Mirax Plaza project became the largest construction project created by the company "Sergey Kiselev and Partners".

Before the start of construction work, it was decided to make changes to the building of the internal affairs bodies located on this site. In addition, during the implementation of the project, the developer faced the need to make changes to the design of the complex, since one of the buildings hung over a railway tunnel. As a result, its area had to be reduced almost by half.

The developer began construction of the complex on December 25, 2006. In order to implement the idea of creating a business space equipped according to high quality standards, advanced engineering solutions will be implemented in Sberbank City, concerning all systems, including:

• heating and cooling;

• ventilation and air conditioning;

• water supply, sewerage and drainage;

• lighting;

• video surveillance and fire extinguishing;

• telephony and television.

In the future, it is planned to merge Sberbank-City with the metro and the Moscow Central Circle.

Sberbank-City today

Sber-City is a premium-class complex formed by two towers that have not yet received their own names, and two low buildings that merge with the surrounding buildings. Tower A is 193 m high and has 47 floors. Tower B is slightly lower. Its height is 168 m, which corresponds to 41 floors. They are adjoined by 2 buildings (buildings B and D), united by a common stylobate. They have 10 and 12 floors.

As a result, the total area of Sberbank City will be 368 thousand square meters. Of this, the above-ground part accounts for 249 thousand square meters, and the underground part - 119 thousand square meters. The underground part is allocated for a 4-level parking capable of accommodating 500 cars. The central part of both skyscrapers is allocated for offices, and the upper floors should be occupied by apartments. The complex plans to create recreation areas with their own microclimate in 5 multi-story atriums. Their total area will reach 3 thousand square meters.

Today, Sberbank has already occupied one of the skyscrapers and moved its headquarters there, which promises to become one of the parts of the largest business cluster, Sberbank City, which unites the company's departments into a single whole. In the near future, it is planned to commission 2 more buildings, and work is underway to unite the exit from the metro and office buildings.

The futuristic interiors of the Sberbank headquarters, which can accommodate about 30 thousand employees, are amazing. The Swiss architectural bureau Evolution Design worked on their creation together with the Moscow company T+T Architects. The central part of the building is a 7-story, fully glazed, multifunctional atrium. It was created with the aim of combining a place for informal communication, a recreation area, and a place for large-scale meetings. At the same time, the atrium houses a bar, which offers a variety of dishes and drinks. The atrium design was conceived in such a way as to create an atmosphere of entering an oasis, which was realized by creating phytowalls completely covered with real, living plants. Their height exceeds 20 m, making them the largest in Moscow.

In addition, in the atrium, literally at the level of the 6th floor, there is a glass conference room called "Diamond", which has no analogues in the world. It is fixed on high-strength cables and is connected to the rooms located along the outer diameter of the building by a reinforced bridge with glass crossbars. The crystal faces are formed not only by transparent, but also by mirror panels. They amazingly display other spaces of the atrium from different angles.

The entire atrium space is distinguished by its excellently thought-out zoning. The designers and architects managed to create workplaces along the inner contour as well, and in such a way that they offer a good view of the beautifully designed free space. The office area is formed by modular structures that allow you to choose not only the necessary work scenarios, but also easily rebuild the zones for individual teams. At the same time, each of them has everything required for the most productive work. The designers did not forget about creating meeting rooms and places for rest.

Also in Sberbank-City, a multifunctional hall designed for 500 people is fully equipped with a state-of-the-art multimedia complex. It was conceived as a place for presentations, master classes, concerts and any other events.

The fourth floor of the building is occupied by a canteen with a full-cycle technological zone, operating in accordance with the idea of "World Kitchen". It seats 400 people.

Despite the apparent complexity of the organization of the internal space of the Sberbank headquarters, it will be difficult to get lost in the building. After all, it has an intuitive navigation system that allows anyone to easily navigate the building. In Sberbank City, each floor has its own theme and mood, which is directly reflected in the color.