T’bilisi to benefit from new Russian school and cultural centre
Buro Happold has been appointed as both structural and building services engineers with Henning Larsen Architects for the design of the Russian House, a school and cultural centre on the spectacular banks of the Mtkvari River in T’bilisi, Georgia’s capital.
The landmark project, intended to promote Russian language and culture in Georgia, is an 18,000 m2 building designed to reflect its two main functions of school and cultural centre, with a large car park. It will include a large library, exhibition space and a multi-functional theatre hall, as well as sports facilities and gardens. Buro Happold’s offices in both Copenhagen and Glasgow are currently working closely with Henning Larsen Architects on developing the concept design, and are aiming at preparing a scheme design by the end of this year.
The spaces housing the school, which consists of the two upper floors, take the form of a number of “boxes” evoking the vernacular architecture of the capital, cantilevered out towards the river. The structural engineers are therefore working on the challenge of minimising the risks associated with these building elements in T’bilisi, where earthquakes can be devastating.
The building services design poses important questions too. “Buro Happold is determined to provide an environmentally sustainable solution, so the design of the services should be complementary to that of the structure and of the architecture,” said Buro Happold’s Iain Munro, the project’s building services engineer. “Natural ventilation to minimise energy consumption and the use of the thermal mass of concrete to minimise cooling requirements during the warmer months are the main driving forces behind the design.”
The programme is earmarked to open in 2012.
Project team:
Client: Cartu Group
Architect: Henning Larsen Architects
Buro Happold services: Building structures and services
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Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. We now employ over 1,700 staff in 21 offices worldwide and our aim is to produce high quality engineering design in concept, in detail and in execution, on time, to programme and delivering excellent value for money. Our distinctive culture and ethos is still based on the same principles of care, value and elegance that were established when the practice was founded.
We offer structural, building services, civil, infrastructure and façade engineering, as well as a broad range of specialist consultancy services including sustainability, ground and environmental engineering, fire and security design, health and safety management, inclusive and urban design, project management, and specialist CAD and computer simulation provision.
