Studio SPEECH: Palace of water sports in Kazan.

The Universiade or world games for students is a sporting event held every two years which attracts large crowds and therefore requires appropriate infrastructure.
Sergey Tchoban and Sergey Kuznetsov’s Moscow architectural practice SPEECH designed the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, capital of the Republic of Tartastan. Its wave shape and the blue colour of the main façade clearly identify the building’s purpose.
Underneath the big laminated wood roof are 3 swimming pools which may be adapted for a variety of disciplines and for up to 3540 spectators. The solution was specially developed by specialists from SPEECH, Ove Arup and AlkosProject taking into consideration factors such as the high humidity characteristic of the swimming pool environment.
Located on the banks of the Volga, the building is a new landmark for the city, and its status as a cathedral of sports is clearly apparent inside, where light flows in through 5 big geometric windows creating unique effects of light and shadow.

(Christiane Bürklein)

Authors - Sergey Tchoban, Sergey Kuznetsov, http://www.speech.su/
Chief architects - Gordyushin N.V.
Engineer - Sergei Serdyukov
architects - Tatiana Varyukhina, George Glebov, Alexey Shubkin, Tatiana Logunova
complex's total area - 43000 m²
start - 2008 – 2010
completion - December 2011
address - Russia, Kazan city, Novo-Savinovsky district, Chistopolskaya str.
Images Courtesy of SPEECH

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