GES-2

Simultaneously, an international team of professionals is working on the renovation project using state-of-the-art software tools and BIM technologies to ensure high quality of the project and meet the documents preparation deadline. The use of a single model allows architects, designers and engineers in Moscow, Paris, London and Milan to receive update design information online.

The facility is located on Bolotny Island, a bustling district of Moscow. A survey of the area allowed for revealing its advantages and commencement of converting the space in line with the new function, based on the architectural context.

The applied approach to converting the GES-2 building into a public space for modern culture is based primarily on the understanding of the enormous historical value of this building. Erected in 1904, the building is now overloaded with extensions, and some historical elements were lost.

The project will help the building to regain the previous feeling of space by demolishing all the new extensions and removing the equipment, while leaving intact a few samples that remind of the past.

Comparison of the current status photo, 3D scanning and BIM model

APEX measured, surveyed and 3D scanned the building throughout and developed a 3D model of the current facility status. One of the project’s key principles states that the authentic structures must be preserved to the maximum possible extent. After the current status analysis, the detailed 3D model will allow the building’s historical elements to be retained as much as possible for renovation and to restore the building to its original volume and space.

From the west, the GES-2 building will be completely hidden by birch trees. Laying out the birchwood will require the raising of the ground level, under which a two-level parking garage will be disposed.

There will be a sculpture garden in the birchwood. A special space will be arranged for theatrical productions, performances and concerts; in summer, from the birchwood side, films will be screened on the theatre wall.

Chimneys will become “light” and will entrap air at a height of 70 meters activating natural ventilation and reducing power consumption. Abiding by the principle of sustainable development, use will be made of geothermal energy resources.

The access and movement strategy was devised in the project as a separate tool. The idea is to build a mobile and visible network, a single structure conceived as a peculiar spatial sculpture consisting of interconnected stairs, lifts, passages, canopies and platforms and comprising all the spaces and functions with emphasis on the entrances from Bolotnaya Embankment and the footbridge. Its location within the central span, from floor to ceiling, meets all the rules and fits well into the space scale.

Under the project, the building will have back its original translucent roofing with added photoelectric cells built into glass panels. The glazing area will also increase. This intervention aims to create continuity between internal and external spaces to open the building to the city. The museum will have a square in front of it, located between the building and the canal.

The main space of the future museum of modern art will be the former turbine room spanned by metal trusses designed by Vladimir Shukhov.