Architecture: Evgeny Gerasimov and partners, Tchoban Voss Architekten, SPEECH
Heads of creative team: Evgeny Gerasimov, Sergei Tchoban
Principal project architects: Viktor Khivrich (Evgeny Gerasimov and partners), Valeria Kashirina, Igor Markov (Tchoban Voss Architekten), Andrey Perlich (SPEECH)
Team:
Evgeny Gerasimov and partners: Y. Appolonova, M. Borisyuk, Y. Budygina, A. Bukina, N. Dmitrieva, D. Zaytsev, I. Minniev, Y. Osipova, M. Ramenskaya, Y. Savhcenko, I. Filimonova, G. Shumskaya
Tchoban Voss Architekten: S. Grischkat, D. Dietz, K. Ozan, H. Topper, R. Hoch, I. Schwarzweller, R. Schwarzweller
SPEECH: I. Aparin, A. Konikova, Y. Lavrova, T. Lokteva, T. Lyubimova, Y. Mashkov, S. Orekhova, A. Popova, Y. Pluzhnik, M. Rasskazova, D. Tolstova, A. Tumanyan, I. Filatov, A. Khmelenina, G. Shashkina
Photographer: Dmitry Chebanenko
Built to a design by Evgeny Gerasimov and partners, Tchoban Voss Architekten and SPEECH, Expoforum is now after its completion one of the largest exhibition and congress centers in the world. It is located in 10 minutes’ drive from Pulkovo Airport on a site bounded by Peterburgskoe Chaussee leading towards the inner city of Saint Petersburg.
The high part of the congress centre, two hotels and two business centers form an open arc – the impressive main façade of the Expoforum overlooking the main road. Almost all buildings have bright amber-coloured surfaces, which remind of the famous Amber Room in the nearby Catherine Palace. Generous glazing parts mixes up this strong colour.
The halls of the congress centre and three exhibition pavilions are located perpendicular to this row of buildings. They are connected by a glass passage with an undulating roof featuring circular skylights. The façades of the pavilions are decorated with photographic prints on ceramic panels showing views of Saint Petersburg.
A complex network of infrastructure required for exhibitions and congresses of very large scale, as for example the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, is situated on a territory of 56.21 hectares. The complex comprises 100.000 square meters of exhibition space, a 3000-seat congress hall, Hilton and Hampton by Hilton hotels (3 and 4 stars), parking lots, an independent freight and customs center as well as engineering structures.