Zenit in new stadium plan

A Japanese design called a 'Space Ship' will house Russian club Zenit.

The USD 225 million stadium will be funded from tax payments to the St. Petersburg city budget, and is to be built on the site of the 1950s Kirovsky stadium on Krestovsky Island.

From a short-list of five architects, the city hall unanimously selected plans designed by Kisho Kurokawa.

The 62,167-seat stadium will be 56.6 meters high and, Kurokawa, estimated, will cost $225.15 million to build. The stadium will have covered and open parking lots — each accommodating 1,720 cars at a time.

Kurokawa's project is reasonably conservative in terms of its size and cost. The costs of projects proposed by competitors varied between US 190.5 million and US 243.16 million. The heights were between 45 meters and 74.6 meters. Most of the five participants proposed natural grass.

Kurokawa's project includes the construction of a new ring road, a sightseeing terrace, beach pavilion, centers renting out sports equipment, cafes, restaurants, a warehouse and three parks near the stadium. Construction companies will compete for the project up until December.

Planned completion is 2009, according to Interfax's citing of Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller.

Governor Valentina Matviyenko stressed the project's combination of functionality and extensive territorial development.

"The stadium is the most suitable for football, and it will naturally fit into Krestovsky Island," Matviyenko was quoted as saying to Interfax.

Among other requirements, the project cited a structure with a capacity of 60,000 fans, built along the standards of UEFA and FIFA. It also serves to develop the western part of Krestovsky Island.

"The goal of the project is to create an attraction, which uses the high-tech and progressive design of a suspended roof to the maximum," Kisho Kurokawa wrote in a project description note.

Kurokawa's project — "Space Ship" — comes complete with sliding roof, a pitch that can be slid outside the stadium and a system of warm currents that will keep the roof clear of snow.

Kurokawa has designed several stadiums in Japan as well as the international airport in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Rejected projects included "Golden Eye" by Lenniiproekt in cooperation with Braun & Schlockermann and ARCADIS Planungsgesellschaft from Germany. They proposed a stadium that looked like a transparent cup, with see-through walls into and out of the building.

German company, Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner Architects International, designed the stadium as a "triangular sea buoy." Moscow-based Mosproekt-4 also applied the sea theme, designing a multi-tier ship-like structure.

Tomas Taveira — Projectos, Estudos Urbanos e Socio-Economicos from Portugal proposed a "Crown" project. Beside its brightly colored facades, one of the building's special features was a helicopter site for VIP guests.

The stadium's location offers interesting development opportunities as well as problems. "Krestovsky Island is historically a center of elite housing in St. Petersburg. At the same time the island is of rather limited area and has considerable problems in terms of access," Zolin of LCMC said. "The most promising option for the territory would be the construction of hotels and the development of street retailing."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.