Sky Towers on Pobedy Avenue, the brainchild of the once leading Kyiv developer Kyiv Donbas Development Group, was supposed to become the tallest skyscraper in Ukraine and Eastern Europe back in 2010. But instead of triumphantly taking a height of 214m, it earned itself the glory of the country's tallest building. The 47-story office tower and the 41-story hotel managed to rise only to the 27th floor. The problems started right after the 2008 crisis and eventually led to a halt in construction.
Since then, the official beneficiaries have changed several times, and the developer KDD has changed its legal details. A recent investigation by journalists of the publication "UkrRudProm" could not identify those responsible for a loan of UAH 6 billion, which the developer took from the state-owned "Ukreximbank" back in 2006, and the current formal owner of Sky Towers, a certain "Office Construction Agency", seems to be playing This is the role of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Big money, as it often happens in Ukraine, disappeared almost without a trace, but a gigantic semi-finished product near the Central Kyiv Registry Office cannot be simply taken and erased from the horizon. Almost every year, different sources make various predictions about what awaits Sky Towers in the future. We decided to find out from the architect Vitaly Vasyagin, who was involved in the adaptation of the project of the Hong Kong bureau DLN, what fate was in store for the skyscraper and how morally outdated this object was over the years of idleness.
Vitaliy Vasyagin: "Then everyone thought that there was still a little more - and we were almost Dubai"
Vitaly Vasyagin. Photo: Maksym Drobynenko
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: Sky Towers has been in a state of disrepair for so long that everyone has already forgotten what started this story. At what stage did the project fall into your hands?
Vitaly Vasyagin: It is possible to say that I practically observed how the project was born. Possible approaches and international teams of designers who are able to design a building of this class were discussed. The choice was made in favor of the DLN bureau from Hong Kong. They had sufficient experience in the design of class A office skyscrapers, high-rise residential buildings and other impressive objects.
PM: How do you rate the initial version of the Hong Kong office of DLN?
V.V.: I highly appreciate it. And not only by the final result. Our office as a local architect for the adaptation of a foreign project accompanied the work of DLN from the first days. We consulted them, provided them with initial data about Ukrainian regulations, the features of the site, its surroundings, etc. They flew to us, we were several times in Hong Kong with colleagues for presentations of their ideas. Participated in the process from first sketches to more detailed elaborations.
Sky Towers lobbies. Design: DLN. Adaptation: Creative architectural workshop "Vytaly Vasyagin". Image: © DLN
PM: What was the adaptation of the project to our realities and conditions?
V.V.: Adaptation of a foreign project to local realities is a common international practice. The local designer has a local design license in his own country, knows local construction norms and rules, corrects some foreign design decisions according to these norms, coordinates the project in local authorities, and puts the object into operation together with the developer. True, we did not get to input.
Since we consulted designers from Hong Kong in the design process, there was no need to globally change their project. At the final stage, more time was spent on file conversion, translation from English, translation of metric units, design of project materials. And most importantly, already in those years there was an opportunity to develop and coordinate projects that go beyond Ukrainian norms, such as experimental construction. For example, at that time, our standards did not specify buildings higher than 73,5 m. However, thanks to the experimental status of the project, we managed to adapt and coordinate in all instances a building with a height of 210 m.
PM: What was the innovation of the Sky Towers project for Ukraine? Design? Architecture? Engineering and technical solutions? Or is it just a high bar?
V.V.: Innovation was in many ways. In addition to the notorious height barrier, the "deep" barrier was also overcome in this project. To this day, there is an eight-level underground parking lot under the unfinished skyscraper. By the way, it is completely dry, despite the surrounding floodplain of the Lybed river. And this is also thanks to advanced at that time constructive, hydraulic and other engineering solutions.
Innovations in architecture and design (by Ukrainian standards of that period) were also off the charts. The multifunctionality of the building: a business center, a five-star hotel with a hotel operator from the top three in the world, restaurants, shops, congress halls, a helipad, a huge underground parking lot. The most complex multi-zonal engineering and elevators, an unprecedented complex of fire safety measures. Special "scissor" evacuation ladders, unknown to anyone in Ukraine at that time, and not the notorious H1 with a cold transition. We had a cardboard model to help firefighters understand how such ladders are geometrically arranged. According to the plans, it was not easy for them to understand such a complex structure. Design bureaus from Western Europe and the States were invited to work on the interior of the building. In short, the scale was still the same. Then, until 2008, everyone thought that there was still a little more - and we were almost Dubai. Well, or Hong Kong.
Sky Towers: height scale. Design: DLN. Adaptation: Creative architectural workshop "Vytaly Vasyagin". Image: © DLN
PM: Greater height means greater responsibility. How complex and multi-level was the technical examination of the project and by whom?
V.V.: Due to the fact that the project had an experimental status, it received increased attention from all coordinating bodies. The traditional expertise of the project was repeatedly expanded by independent experts from different countries. Only the constructive calculation of the load-bearing capacity of the frame was checked many times in England, Germany, and Russia. The same goes for all safety issues. The model of the building in the surrounding development was "blown" in a special wind tunnel in London for the purpose of determining the best aerodynamic shape.
PM: In the process of interaction with the customer, it became clear to you why the project was not initially ordered from one of the Ukrainian architects?
V.V.: Initially, it was clear that no Ukrainian design company could design a real high-tech high-rise building at that time. It is not intended to create an expressive architectural image (model it in 3D and render a beautiful picture), but to perform the entire complex of architectural, design and engineering works. That is, people with similar experience who know how to do everything were needed. And who knew about this in Ukraine with our level of construction market development in the 2000s?
Sky Towers lobbies. Design: DLN. Adaptation: Creative architectural workshop "Vytaly Vasyagin". Image: © DLN
PM: There was no desire to reformat everything radically? If (when) Sky Towers is completed, will it be considered innovative or to some extent the project is already morally outdated?
V.V.: Everything always becomes obsolete, but at different speeds. The more unbuilt it is, the less someone needs it. Except that the land under it is needed. It is not easy to take it and immediately continue construction and finish the object. It is necessary to check the condition of previously erected structures - whether they have preserved their load-bearing capacity well. Was the object "preserved" correctly? Difficult questions - a million. All this significantly increases the cost of continuing construction, so interest in the object naturally decreases.
PM: What amendments and additions would you make to the project today from the point of view of modern views and approaches? By the way, in your opinion, how much have these views and approaches transformed in recent years?
V.V.: In order to think about what amendments and additions are necessary to that project in modern conditions, you need to understand who and why it may be needed from the point of view of the modern market. Over the past years, I have heard about different ideas for renovating this mess for different needs: from housing the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers or the new Kyiv city administration to transforming it into another residential complex. When interest arises and a task is set, then it is possible to think about ways to implement it.
And of course, the Ukrainian office real estate market has changed in the years since the global financial crisis. They talk more about ego stagnation than about a violent surge.
Plus, developing computer technologies allowed (and the coronavirus forced) many people to have remote offices: to work at home, in co-working spaces, at the dacha or in a deck chair under a palm tree. Therefore, the need for large high-class business centers in high-rise buildings with expensive rent is still in doubt.
Sky Towers is an office and hotel complex consisting of two towers that was supposed to be the tallest in Kyiv. Design: DLN. Adaptation: Creative architectural workshop "Vytaly Vasyagin". Image: © DLN
PM: Do you have personal ambitions to create an original skyscraper project for one of the Ukrainian cities?
V.V.: I have ambitions to create simply good and sought-after projects, not necessarily skyscrapers. If they do not order skyscrapers now (the state of the economy is not the same), I will not worry and suffer.
In addition to iconic high-rise buildings in Ukrainian cities, in my opinion, it is necessary to create more simply high-quality mid-rise buildings - let them be concise, not fancy and super expensive, but made with taste. And the more of them, the better the city environment as a whole. And in a good and interesting urban environment, developed personalities with taste grow and form. And when there are many people with good taste, they will choose good architects and good architecture. This is how Europe, which we go to see, turned out to be.
I would also emphasize the improvement of the surrounding area. All architects need to learn how to create an interesting environment outside the outer walls of the building, and all developers need to spend money on it. This is what distinguishes cities and towns in developed countries — "invested brains and money" are visible in every meter of the street.
Interviewed by Iryna Isachenko
