Integrated Building Design: From disused power station to Cultural Centre:GES-2

About the event 

GES-2 was a listed, disused power station located in the centre of Moscow. It was purchased by the V–A–C Foundation who commissioned Renzo Piano Building Workshop to lead the conversion of the surroundings and buildings into a new, public space and major cultural venue. RPBW have a trusted relationship with Arup, forged through a number of projects where integrated building performance was required to unlock the building's architectural vision. For GES-2, they invited Arup to lead the design of a number of complex elements including sustainability, environmental design, façade engi-neering, lighting, daylighting and acoustics, as well as the specification of elements that would allow areas of the building to operate as a state-of-the art performance spaces.

The key challenge for the team was to achieve the complex brief and support the architectural vision, within existing heritage, a challenging climate and in a sustainable manner. Becci Taylor and Andrew Mackay will provide insight into the multidisciplinary process from the earliest stages through to the development of highly integrated key details. They will describe how the new fully glazed roof evolved from an engineering challenge to a key enabler of the building’s environmental strategy.

About the speakers 

Becci Taylor: Becci is a Director at Arup, and has worked on a number of cultural projects with RPBW. She is a building services engineer and physicist as well as a leader in cities, residential design and sustainability. Becci is a multidisciplinary design integrator and industry expert, working to deliver development that improves quality of life and drives environmental sustainability. Find out more.

Andrew Mackay: Andrew is an Associate in the Buildings team at Arup and works across a range of building typologies and scales. He led the delivery of GES-2 through scheme design stage and has closely followed the project on site as it approaches an opening date toward the end of this year. 

Photo credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

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