City
Vision of the City
Skolkovo is more than a science or technology park: it is a full-fledged city, though it is a special city in which creativity is the rule rather than an exception; a prototype for the city of the future. The Innovation Centre plans to ensure optimal conditions for research and business as well as create a rich and aesthetically appealing urban environment that is equally convenient for both guests and residents. The city’s main backbone elements will be the University and the Technopark. Alongside them will be a Congress Centre, various office and laboratory buildings, apartment buildings, fitness centres and stores. Particular attention will be paid to parks and other public spaces. The layout of the Innovation Centre calls for housing to be built in close proximity to workplaces. Rail transport and well-planned road junctions will provide quick access – ranging from 30-40 minutes – to Moscow’s historical centre. The roughly 400-hectare territory in the Moscow Region’s Odintsovo District will house approximately 21,000 people, while the total number of employees will amount to 31,000 people taking into account commuters from Moscow and the surrounding region. The first facilities will be built at the Innovation Centre in 2012, while the main construction program will be completed in 2015.
An Open City
Skolkovo is a city with an open code that aims to rebuild the surrounding world in accordance with its principles, a city organised for a wide variety of meetings that facilitates communication. Skolkovo will pay special attention to the areas of education, business and public housing, which creates new opportunities for the development of Moscow and the municipalities of the Moscow Region. The central zone, with its colourful architecture and unique opportunities for communication, attracts residents from the Moscow Region and western part of the capital. The city’s buildings serve as public spaces that are fully open to visitors and suited for different functions. Citizens and resident companies take active part in discussions on the urban development strategy and influence the decisions made by city managers using a range of public mechanisms. The city seeks to implement all modern solutions aimed at improving the urban environment on its territory. The urban planning innovations developed and put into practice in the city may be used by any municipality in the world.
The Centre of City Development, the "Cube-House" will be the first building on the territory of Skolkovo. The Administration of the Foundation, as well as the offices of the first project participants, will be placed in this 6,000-sqm building. The centre will also become a “meeting place” of Skolkovo participants and all those interested in this project. The "Cube-House" is built on the basis of the 4E principles: energy efficiency, ecological compatibility, ergonomics, and economic efficiency. Only electric power, from external networks, will be connected to the building. The building’s heating system is fully based on the use of thermal pumps, and the water supply and water drainage is carried out through water collection from an artesian well and the complete treatment of waste waters. The "Cube-House" building will be completed before the end of 2011.
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Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
The stellar architectural bureau Herzog & de Meuron Architekten (Basel, Switzerland) was hired to design the campus of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. It is famous for such projects as the Tate Modern gallery, which resulted in the bureau founders being awarded the Pritzker Prize for achievements in architecture, the library media centre at Brandenburg University in Cottbus and the National Olympic Stadium in Beijing.
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Forest Office
The Forest Office building is remarkable in that it is located above the first underground transformer substation in Russia, which by itself is unique.
The first floor of the building will house the control centre for the transformer substations operating on the territory of Skolkovo as well as a museum of the Federal Grid Company.
The decision to unite several functions in this building made it possible to reduce the building area, thereby freeing up space for the laboratories and offices that the Innovation Centre requires as well as improving the energy efficiency of the facility.
The Forest Office meets the requirements of the LEED international green building standard and may receive the highest level of certification – Platinum.
Sustainable Development
Skolkovo is an energy efficient city with minimal or zero emissions of environmentally harmful substances that ensures the total recycling of household and municipal waste. At least 50% of the energy consumed by the city will come from renewable sources. The well-developed water system uses significantly less water by Russian standards without compromising comfort or hygiene. The transport system prioritises walking and cycling. The use of vehicles with internal combustion engines is prohibited in the city. Energy passive and active buildings that do not require energy from the outside and even produce more energy than they consume will be built at Skolkovo. Household and municipal waste will be disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way possible – the use of plasma incinerator technology.