Casting of concrete foundation of future Tretyakov Gallery on Oktyabrsky Island started

Casting of a concrete foundation of the future museum complex - a branch of the Tretyakov Gallery - has started on the site of the Museum, Educational and Cultural Complexes (MECC) in Kaliningrad. The building works are performed by Stroytransgaz JSC. During this process, the builders have set a record in uninterrupted concrete pouring: they laid 1075 cubic metres of material in 12 hours. The work was continued in daytime and at night.

At the moment, a 1000 sq. m area of a concrete foundation slab has been cast. The specialists used high strength concrete with Kalmatron-D Pro additive. This additive enhances the density of concrete and significantly improves its resistance to aggressive environments, prevents deterioration of cement stone resulting from corrosion caused by gas, salty water and biologic matter. The quality of concrete produced at Kaliningrad Concrete Products Plant-2 is verified by in-house laboratory experts of STG JSC.

The poured foundation slab is underlain with heavily reinforced structures: 1 cubic metre of the structure contains over 100 kg of rebars. This is due to the design requirements which take into account the soil specifics of Oktyabrsky Island and seismic loads: the Kaliningrad Region is included into the list of seismic areas approved by the Ministry of Construction of Russia.

Poured concrete will be setting for 28 days. After that, the vertical structures of the building frame will be erected. The remaining parts of the foundation slab of the museum complex on the Western site will be cast shortly as well. 

Simultaneously, active work is also being performed on the Eastern site of the MECC. Cast in-situ concrete work is completed in all the six academic buildings and dormitories on the Eastern site; currently, internal and external wall brickwork, finishing work and roof construction are being performed. Construction of internal and external utility networks on the site is underway. In a short time, the academic buildings of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography will be opened here as well as those of the Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky with concert halls and boarding schools, a dormitory for students and a comprehensive school for 550 schoolchildren, including a swimming-pool. 5 blocks of flats are being built for performing artists and teachers.

Every day over 700 people – workers, engineers and technicians – work at the construction site.

Eastern site

Project background

The task to create a new cultural centre was set by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in his Address to the Federal Assembly in 2018 and specified in the Executive Order “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation for the period to 2024”. Starting from September 2019 Stroytransgaz JSC is the new Construction General Contractor of the facilities. The project originator is the Social and Cultural Projects Fund "National Cultural Heritage".

Creation of cultural, educational and museum complexes is one of the priorities of the national “Culture” project implemented by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The project will allow the region to reveal its cultural and educational opportunities, arrange modern cultural space, change life quality of the residents through art introduction and, at the same time, make the city particularly attractive for visitors and tourists. Construction of the complexes will become one of the largest cultural projects of the recent years.

Construction is carried out on the Western and Eastern sites of Oktyabrsky Island in Kaliningrad. An opera and ballet theatre for 950 seats, the Higher School of Music and Theatre Arts, and a museum complex will be built on the Western site. The foundation stone of the branches of the State Bolshoi Academic Theatre of Russia and the State Tretyakov Gallery was laid in February, 2020. A comprehensive school for 550 schoolchildren, including a swimming-pool, academic buildings of a music school and an academy of choreography with student boarding schools, a dormitory for the students of the higher school of music and theatrical arts, and residential buildings for artists and teachers will be located on the Eastern site.

The buildings area on the Western and Eastern sites totals 118,039 sq. m.