HIGHER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT MAIN ACADEMIC BUILDING IN THE FORMER STABLES, ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

Authors of the project:

Architects: N. I. Yawein, P. S. Sokolov, Zh. V. Razumova, V. I. Parfyonov with N. V. Zhukov, A. S. Skorik

Restorers: A. M. Smironova, Yu. N. Komarova, T. A. Kondratyeva, O. A. Kuzevanov, S. V. Morozova, E. G. Sorokina, E. V. Shipova

Structural Engineers: I. N. Lyashko, I. A. Nikulina, N. V. Prosvetova, I. A. Gracheva, A. S. Skorik, N. G. Polyakova, A. S. Denisov

Architectural Supervision: G. V. Ivanov, D. Yu. Yaroshevsky

The suburban campus of the Higher School of Management is located in Mikhailovskaya Dacha, the country residence of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, son of Emperor Nicholas I. The main academic building accommodating 1400 students occupies the former stables (1861, architect Harold Bosse). The stables originally were a utilitarian building without valuable decorative details. However, the building has a unique layout structure and composition. The authors of the project strived to find a naturally harmonious way to project modern education technology onto the historic structure, to reconstruct the axial hierarchy and the logic behind the connections within the building. The main U-shaped courtyard was spared from new construction and left empty: the conference auditorium, which was originally planned there, was moved outside of the historic building and into an ellipsoid volume on the former racetrack. A low dome covers an auditorium seating 450, with an amphitheater going 3.0 m down. Therefore, the central courtyard—an equivalent of a university cloister—retained its role of the school’s main public space. The open cloister gradually leads to the covered Forum space in the former carriage wing. Together, they form a system of spaces hosting the process of communication and social networking, which are immensely significant for a business school.

General Contractor: Setl City Investment and Construction Company

Total area: 20 120 sq.m