Federation Tower

Federation Tower
Башня Федерация
General information
Status Under construction
Location Moscow-City, Moscow, Russia
Coordinates 55°44′59.17″N 37°32′13.70″E / 55.7497694°N 37.5371389°ECoordinates: 55°44′59.17″N 37°32′13.70″E / 55.7497694°N 37.5371389°E
Construction started 2003
Estimated completion 2015
Cost US$ 1.2 billion
Owner "Potok" (Flow)
Height
Top floor 374 m (1,227 ft) (East Tower)
242 m (794 ft) (West Tower)
Technical details
Floor count 95 (East Tower)
63 (West Tower)
Floor area 439,154 m2 (4,727,010 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators 66
Design and construction
Developer "Potok" (Flow)

The Federation Tower (Russian: Башня Федерация) is a complex of skyscrapers being built on the 13th lot of the Moscow International Business Center in Moscow, Russia. The project was conceived by Sergei Tchoban and Peter Schweger. The construction of the towers began in 2003. However, construction stopped until it resumed in August 2011 and is now expected to be completed in 2015.

The construction work is executed by the company "Potok" (Flow).

The complex consists of two towers built on one podium. Tower East is going to be a 97-storey structure. Tower West is a 65-storey structure.

The building will accommodate offices, hotel suites and apartments. As stipulated in the plan, three covered sky bridges between the East and West towers will house restaurants and cafes.

Currently, the 61st floor of the Tower West accommodates the highest restaurant in Moscow, ‘Sixty’ run by Ginza Project. The building also features the highest digital clock in the world.

According to the builder of the tower, the company Potok, it uses for its construction concrete grade B90, which is twice as strong as regular concrete and will allow the skyscraper to withstand a direct hit of an aircraft.

The building is actively used as a sightseeing object and a high-rise structure for extreme sports lovers (base jumpers, climbers, etc.), as well as a site for shooting films and videos (TV shows, advertising, and movie production). In 2012, the Moscow-24 TV channel shot a movie about the business complex. Another film dedicated to the skyscraper was made by the US TV Discovery Channel in 2009.

The tower was climbed solo by the Frenchman Alain Robert in September 2007.

Tower East

The higher tower of the complex located in the eastern part of lot number 13 was formerly known as Tower "A". But in November 2006, to avoid name competition with Naberezhnaya Tower, it was renamed Tower "Vostok (East)". Tower East is designed to have 94 above-ground and 3 underground floors, and 17 high-speed elevators will be installed there (JP. Kocher). In early December 2009, the Potok corporation management (ex-Mirax Group) announced that in the case of financial problems it can reduce the number of floors of Tower East from 94 to 64 floors. However, in March 2010, the company's management stated that Tower East would be completed according to the original project design.

Construction

The construction of this tower happens to be the second stage of the entire complex construction, and during the construction of the first tower "Zapad (West)", its design underwent some significant changes and became radically different from the original version. In the first place, the square footage of the floors changed, and visually the tower became thicker at the base to the extent that a part of the floors, starting with the 11th, protrude a little beyond the 13th lot borderline. The tower core was significantly revised, too, and now has a trapezoidal shape rather than hexagonal as in the earlier design. The load bearing columns became twice as thick; therefore, the amount of concrete required for the construction of the columns increased 4 times, and, consequently, significantly increased the total mass of the building.

During the construction of the foundation slab on 21–24 February 2007, a new record listed in the Guinness Book of Records was set. 14,000 cubic meters of concrete were placed then. Somewhat unusual in the construction process was the fact that the first base plate was covered with the second base plate, which resulted in the complex losing one underground level and the construction delayed by at least 5 months. The extravagance of this decision lies in the fact that, judging by the photographs obtained from the site, the builders began active preparations for the construction of the first underground floor, but suddenly stopped working, dismantled the installed cranes, cut the reinforcement bars previously prepared for the columns and began to place reinforcement for the second base plate. The fact that the construction organizers did not clearly comment on the reasons for this decision was also unusual.

In the process of further construction the pace of the tower erection changed over a fairly wide range: the underground and podium parts of the building were being built at an average rate of about 2 levels a month; after the podium was completed, the construction of standard floors went at a faster rate of 4 floors per month, while at the technical 33-34 levels of the building the construction of that floor was significantly suspended and lasted more than five months; one of the cranes was replaced with two more powerful ones, and a strong metal outrigger structure was formed, contributing to the greater rigidity of the building and its resistance to wind loads.

As of mid-May 2008, the tower was built to a height of about 170 meters (558 ft).

In November 2008, due to the world economic recession and lack of funding, the tower construction was suspended.

On July 5, 2011, the company Potok announced the tower construction to be resumed. The actual growth of the tower was scheduled to begin in September 2011. As of March 30, 2012, the 67th storey of Tower East has been completed; the glazing of the tower is being conducted as well.

On April 2, 2012, firefighters and firefighting helicopters struggled to put out a massive blaze that broke out on the 67th floor of the under-construction Federation Tower East. "The fire was visible from much of the Russian capital's western half. Two firefighting helicopters noisily circled the blaze, dumping huge buckets of water on the flames before the Emergencies Ministry said the fire had been stopped from spreading by about 11:30 p.m. (1930 GMT), some three hours after it broke out."[1]

“The area affected by the fire has exceeded 300 square meters (3,229 square feet),” Major-General Sergei Anikeyev, deputy head of the city's emergency department, told the news agency Itar-Tass.

“The 14 people who were at the top floors when the fire started have been evacuated. No one was hurt,” he told Itar-Tass.[2]

Tower West

The lower tower of the complex located in the western part of lot number 13, was formerly known as Tower “B”. In November 2006, after the name competition, it was renamed Tower West. Tower West has 62 stories above ground and four underground floors, 11 twin and 6 high-speed elevators.

Construction

The erection of Tower West was the first stage of the entire Federation complex construction, but the height of the tower was increased in comparison with the original models (originally, Tower West was planned to be two times lower than Tower East). The tower has a hexagonal core, the construction of which was conducted at a rate of 1-2 floors faster in comparison to the rest of the tower. The building was completed in early 2008.

Construction

Resumed in June 2011.

As of March 30, 2012, the 67th story of Tower East has been completed; the glazing of the tower is being conducted as well.

As of May 14, 2013, the 75th story of Tower East has been completed; the glazing of the tower is being conducted as well.

Awards

2009 – The western tower of the Federation business complex was the winner of the World FIABCI competition Prix d'Excellence in the category "Office Property". 2011 - The Federation Tower was awarded with the "Records of real estate market" prize in the "Business Center No 1" nomination.

Height

The height of the grand tower of 373 meters, which will make the Federation Complex the tallest building in Europe.

Construction gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/moscow-federation-tower-fire_n_1397623.html
  2. ↑ http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/02/10986130-moscow-federation-tower-in-flames?lite

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Federation Tower.

Official links:

Webcams:

Other links: