Hypercube in Skolkowo - Russia’s Silicon Valley

The Skolkovo Innovation Center, where state-of-the-art technologies are to be developed, is a project for a Russian research and industrial area to be built about 20 kilometers west of the Moscow city center. It is modeled on America’s Silicon Valley.

The hypercube, the first building in Skolkovo is a new generation construction where communication is just as important as functionality and aesthetic consistency. Apart from this, it provides a platform for the external representation of Skolkowo’s innovation project. Designed by the Russian architect Boris Bernaskoni, it combines energy efficiency, environmental friendliness, coziness and convenience. In accordance with the highest energy efficiency requirements Schöck Isokorb® XT type K elements were used as load-bearing thermal insulation elements.

The building has a square ground plan of 36 x 31 meters and is surrounded by balconies with an overhang of up to 1.5 meters. The main difficulty in this project was the fact that the Schöck Isokorb® had to carry an additional load due to the complicated double facade of the building.

In addition to the standard elements, Schöck’s Isokorb® XT type K elements were used to connect the balcony plates to the walls in areas with a skylight – these have a downward curved reinforcement for mounting the balconies on the reinforced concrete walls beneath.

Since atriums were planned in the corners of the building and because the support pressure is greater in this case than in that of a straight balcony, Isokorb® XT type K elements with their increased load-bearing capacity were integrated.