Location

St. Petersburg, Russia

Program

Theater, Hotel, Exhibition, Retail

Dates

2001-2002

Key Staff

Dolan Daggett, Scott Nakao, Eugene Glekel, Paul Groh, John Bencher, Eric McNevin, Jose Herrasti, Sophie Frank, Kyoung Kim, Emil Mertzel, Raul Garcia, Elena Andrews, Farshid Gazor, Paulo Volpis, Pierpaolo Granata, Chuck Hellwig, Brooke Luckock

In order to complete and strengthen the axis that runs from the Palace Square through Konnogvardeiskiy Boulevard, the New Holland site will be developed into a Cultural Center that includes a theater, five-star hotel, museum, retail and office space. This center will provide a destination and terminus for the existing axis. The corner of New Holland will be renovated to become an architectural event worthy of being on axis with Alexander’s Column. A new plaza will provide a sense of arrival in the urban space and is designed to host the White Nights International Arts Festival with an outdoor stage and temporary seating for 5,000. Raised above the plaza is a Concert Hall with seating for 700. The surrounding warehouses will be renovated to contain office and retail. The historic prison will be renovated to become an Academy for the dramatic arts, stagecrafts, music, and dance.

A new structure, similar in width to the existing warehouses, will complete the triangular plan of the New Holland site. The new building includes a hotel, exhibit halls, museum, and commercial/ retail spaces. At the east end, the old and new are deliberately juxtaposed in the space of a voided sphere. This space serves as a pivot between the city, the hotel, and the new commercial spaces in the renovated warehouses.

A tubular glass arcade is the central circulation spine. Starting at an entry point in the voided sphere, it weaves through the length of the building and ends at the Academy. This main artery provides entry to the exhibition level and is the connection point for the pedestrian bridges and the entries for the museums. The tubular glass arcade is part of the circular pedestrian path that connects all the perimeter buildings on New Holland.

The top level is the Five Star Skyline Hotel. The hotel has several types of suites – those with views over the city, those with views of the new Mariinsky Cultural Center, and those with interior patio landscapes open to the sky. The Skyline Restaurant occupies the highest level with views toward the Admiralty and surrounding city.