Vladimir Kovalev: “What matters in architecture is the factor of responsibility”

An interview with the founder and president of “Olimpproekt” Vladimir Kovalev about his company being a “smart machine”, its main asset a team of like-minded people.

Interviewed by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

12 September 2017

Interview

Archi.ru:
– Your company was founded in 2006. Could you please share how it all began?

Vladimir Kovalev:
– Back in 2006, when I was an employee of Gersevanova Institute for bases and underground facilities, I was defending my PhD thesis in the field of foundations and soil engineering, and I also thought of starting my own company. I was young and full of ambition back then and I was sure that every road was open to me. And what’s more, I was prepared to work a lot and work efficiently. We started from technical survey, geotechnical design and monitoring. By degrees, my company established itself as a leader in its field. Today I can safely say that “Olimpproekt” is one of the leading companies in Moscow in the area of geological and technical survey.

– How did the name of “Olimpproekt” come about?

– The moment of founding our company coincided with the time when there was a competition going on for the capital of Winter Olympics. In 2007 it was announced that it would be Sochi. I was inspired by this victory and the name sort of suggested itself. To me, it symbolizes the desire for success through hard work and self-realization.

– How did you come to the necessity of creating an architectural firm inside a company that specializes in geological survey and engineering?

– When in 2010 I took an active part in the actualization of the code “Bases of buildings and other facilities”, it became clear to me that this was a certain milestone after which I had to move on. In 2011, I started to expand “Olimpproekt” with a view of creating a division of architecture and design. First of all, already at that point I was thinking about the advantages of the integrated approach that would allow us to pass all the stages of the technical survey within the framework of one organization. Second, I was always interested in architecture. And at some point I felt that I was ready to take the responsibility not only for the technical part of the project but for the architectural part as well. What matters in architecture is the factor of responsibility because architecture forms the human habitat.

– How important is the architectural design for the overall structure of your company? Who is heading that design division now?

– Our company first debuted as the author of the architectural concept and as the general designer in the project of LoftGarden complex on Moscow’s Third Transport Ring. We had a challenging task of redevelopment which I think we solved. Together with the British firm JohnMcAslan + Partners, we worked on the project of reconstructing the “Bolshevik” complex (“Olimpproekt” was the general designer in this project – editorial note). This was a valuable experience for my team and for me personally.

zooming — Vladimir Kovalev, the founder and president of Olimpproekt Group. Photograph © Olimpproekt Group

In the end of 2013 I was asked to develop an architectural concept for the reconstruction of the body-shop building on the territory of the ZIL plant. It is a huge industrial building with a long history. It stands on a very important location next to the major ice arena – I realized that it was a tall order. However, it was a great educational experience that took my team to a whole new level. But the architectural branch really became a full-fledged part of our company after the great and talented architect Ekaterina Gren came to work for us – now she’s the chief of the architectural and project division.

– How is your company organized? What does its structure look like? To what extent are you involved in the design process as the general director?

– Our company has a vertical structure. A lot depends on the leaders and the management of the company. From the very start I tried to surround myself with like-minded people who shared my values and my beliefs. Most of the company leaders have been working with me for eight or ten years. They know my business development strategy and they help me to implement it successfully.

As far as craft workers go we pay as much attention to them. Our main asset is our people. It’s important for us to work with top-class specialists creating comfortable working conditions for them to work in. We invest a lot into our new employees, into their professional training and their growth. It’s a lot more valuable to grow an operations manager within your team rather than invite one from the side.

I take an active part in the day-to-day operations of the company. I always interact with clients who expect me to be an expert in literally everything – from economics to geological survey to architectural proposals and concepts. I have no formal architectural education but I immersed into the profession so much that now I am also involved with the architectural design as well. I get to the bottom of our every project, regardless of its scale or importance. I think that this is a necessary thing to do in order to be sure in the quality of the end product. Our organization is all about quality, efficiency and our desire to provide top-class service to our clients. And although the idea of providing top quality service is not really popular in Russia, it is my firm belief that this is an important part of our work.

– Your fields of activity are really diverse: architecture engineering, geological survey. What is of primary importance to you?

– Our company offers practically a full cycle of survey and design work. This is a fairly rare combination for Russia. And creating such an operational model, I was inspired by the experience of one famous project institute in China that I visited for the exchange of experiences. And architecture was of course of primary importance there. But at the same time it could not effectively operate without the other constituent parts, such as engineering, geological survey, and structural design. This integrated approach is our main comparative advantage that ensures the steady growth of our company. In addition, this helps us to significantly optimize the time of implementing our projects. Our clients are sometimes amazed at how soon we issue the project documents without losing the project quality.

– What specifically helps you to minimize your design period so dramatically?

– Our architects geologists designers engineers and other specialists all the work in one office; we have efficient communication between the divisions, and they are on great friendly terms with one another. This facilitates communication, coordination, and data exchange. People here trust one another, and they don’t spend time having to double-check the information they get. This is why all the questions are quickly solved. And this is what modern market requires from us – quickness, quality, and reasonable prices.

– Which of your implemented projects do you consider the most successful? Which projects are important to you?

– Our design bureau was created not so long ago – five years ago, in fact – a rather short term for an architectural company. This is why currently we have few implemented projects. Among the large-scale ones are LoftGarden and Bolshevik.

A lot of our projects today are close to completion, though. The multifunctional complex “Park of Legends” on the territory of the ZIL plant was supposed to be put into operation still in 2016 but because of the economic crisis the project got frozen several times. The time shifted to 2018. Soon the façades will be ready. The structure is already complete. Next year, a housing project on the Ozernaya Street will also be complete – it a small but really well thought-out residential complex. The construction of a residential complex on the Mikhailova Street is underway. They’ve already built the fourth floor there. So I hope that in the nearest future people will be able to see and appreciate our architecture.

– Your projects are mostly multistory housing complexes. Is this your specialty?

– The volume of construction of public buildings as opposed to housing projects is relatively small. Chiefly for this reason we chose for ourselves the segment of multistory housing construction. Today this indeed has become our specialty. We have accumulated formidable experience having designed dozens of housing projects. We are professionals in this field we know how to and we love to design quality housing projects. We quickly and efficiently prepare plans and layouts that satisfy both the developer and the end consumer. If you take that same residential building on the Ozernaya Street, for example, it’s interesting to know that for this project alone we came up with seven types of studios, thanks to which the sales skyrocketed. But this, of course, doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to do as good a job of developing a public building project.

– Which of your current projects do you consider to be the most important?

– There is an interesting housing complex at the crossing of the Varshavskoe Highway and the Moscow Ring Road. This place is very picturesque in terms of its natural surroundings. There is a forest that steps right up to the border of the land site, and we proposed to “route” this forest right into the yard. As a result, the yard started looking pretty much like a park, while the territory of the complex took on the countryside quality. Of this in spite of the fact that the buildings are rather tall, up to 75 meters.

Still another project is a house on the 11th Parkovaya Street. It is relatively small, its floor space being under 30 thousand square meters. The land site is surrounded by greenery, next to a residential area and a derelict kindergarten. The dense construction and the insolation restrictions did not stop us from being able to offer to the future residents convenient apartment layouts and a full-fledged public territory before the building. Regretfully, this project has been stopped but we hope it will be resumed one day and our client will get back to it.

In addition, “Olimpproekt” works a lot in the field of developing project documents. This is a huge amount of work, considering the scale of the projects. One of the examples is a housing complex situated on the territory of a former flour mill. Its area is just under 150 000 square meters, its height is 53 floors.

But our most important and cherished projects are “Park of Legends” at ZIL and the housing complex on the Mikhailova Street. These are the most complex projects and therefore the most expensive ones. The multifunctional complex on the territory of the ZIL plant was designed virtually by me alone. This project changed drastically from the first tentative concept to the final project proposal – thought-out and multilayered. As far as the complex on the Mikhailova Street is concerned, I must mention the invaluable input from Ekaterina Gren in this project. For her, just as for the the whole company, this project became the symbol of an architect fighting for architecture. And it was on this project that we realized that we have a right to exist as an architectural firm, and we can successfully develop in this direction.

– How would you describe the goal and mission of “Olimpproekt” for the next few years?

– To me, Olimpproekt is not just a company – it is a sophisticated mechanism, a machine that consists of talented and goal-oriented people. And the quality of work of this machine must constantly grow. This is our main goal because together with the improvement of the efficiency of the company operations we improve the quality of the end product. The construction market is different, and the economics of the projects is also different. The laconism of our works is to a large extent determined by their economics. Before the crisis, the investor was ready to invest virtually any money into projects with a great location. Now the investor is compelled to count his money, and we have to achieve top-quality results under any conditions.

12 September 2017

Headlines now

Part of the Ideal

In 2025, another World Expo will take place in Osaka, Japan, in which Russia will not participate. However, a competition for the Russian pavilion was indeed held, with six projects participating. The results were never announced as Russia’s participation was canceled; the competition has no winners. Nevertheless, Expo pavilion projects are typically designed for a bold and interesting architectural statement, so we’ve gathered all the six projects and will be publishing articles about them in random order. The first one is the project by Vladimir Plotkin and Reserve Union, which is distinguished by the clarity of its stereometric shape, the boldness of its structure, and the multiplicity of possible interpretations.

Object

The Fortress by the River

ASADOV Architects have developed a concept for a new residential district in the center of Kemerovo. To combat the harsh climate and monotonous everyday life, the architects proposed a block type of development with dominant towers, good insolation, facades detailed at eye level, and event programming.

Object

In the Rhombus Grid

Construction has begun on the building of the OMK (United Metallurgical Company) Corporate University in Nizhny Novgorod’s town of Vyksa, designed by Ostozhenka Architects. The most interesting aspect of the project is how the architects immersed it in the context: “extracting” a diagonal motif from the planning grid of Vyksa, they aligned the building, the square, and the park to match it. A truly masterful work with urban planning context on several different levels of perception has long since become the signature technique of Ostozhenka.

Object

Generational Connection

Another modern estate, designed by Roman Leonidov, is located in the Moscow region and brings together three generations of one family under one roof. To fit on a narrow plot without depriving anyone of personal space, the architects opted for a zigzag plan. The main volume in the house structure is accentuated by mezzanines with a reverse-sloped roof and ceilings featuring exposed beams.

Object

Three Dimensions of the City

We began to delve into the project by Sergey Skuratov, the residential complex “Depo” in Minsk, located at Victory Square, and it fascinated us completely. The project has at least several dimensions to it: historical – at some point, the developer decided to discontinue further collaboration with Sergey Skuratov Architects, but the concept was approved, and its implementation continues, mostly in accordance with the proposed ideas. The spatial and urban planning dimension – the architects both argue with the city and play along with it, deciphering nuances, and finding axes. And, finally, the tactile dimension – the constructed buildings also have their own intriguing features. Thus, this article also has two parts: it dwells on what has been built and what was conceived

Object

New “Flight”

Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.

Object

The Yauza Towers

In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.

Object

Architecture and Leisure Park

For the suburban hotel complex, which envisages various formats of leisure, the architectural company T+T Architects proposed several types of accommodation, ranging from the classic “standard” in a common building to a “cave in the hill” and a “house in a tree”. An additional challenge consisted in integrating a few classic-style residences already existing on this territory into the “architectural forest park”.

Overview

The U-House

The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.

Object

Black and White

In this article, we specifically discuss the interiors of the ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh. Interior design is a crucial component of the overall concept in this case, and precision and meticulous execution were highly important for the architects. Julia Tryaskina, head of UNK interiors, shares some of the developments.

send.project

The “Snake” Mountain

The competition project for the seaside resort complex “Serpentine” combines several typologies: apartments of different classes, villas, and hotel rooms. For each of these typologies, the KPLN architects employ one of the images that are drawn from the natural environment – a serpentine road, a mountain stream, and rolling waves.

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Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring

The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.

Object

Feed ’Em All

A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.

Object

The Ensemble at the Mosque

OSA prepared a master plan for a district in the southern part of Derbent. The main task of the master plan is to initiate the formation of a modern comfortable environment in this city. The organization of residential areas is subordinated to the city’s spiritual center: depending on the location relative to the cathedral mosque, the houses are distinguished by façade and plastique solutions. The program also includes a “hospitality center”, administrative buildings, an educational cluster, and even an air bridge.

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Pargolovo Protestantism

A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.

Object

The Shape of the Inconceivable

The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.

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Rays of the Desert

A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.

Object

The Dairy Theme

The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.

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The Road to the Temple

Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.

Object

Towers Leaning Towards the Sun

The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.

Object

In the spirit of ROSTA posters

The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.

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The Northern Thebaid

The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.

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Brilliant Production

The architects from London-based MOST Architecture have designed the space for the high-tech production of Charge Cars, a high-performance production facility for high-speed electric cars that are assembled in the shell of legendary Ford Mustangs. The founders of both the company and the car assembly startup are Russians who were educated in their home country.

Object

Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor

The so-called “Mytny Dvor” area lying just behind Moscow Railway Station – the market rows with a complex history – will be transformed into a premium residential complex by Studio 44. The project consists of three parts: the restoration of historical buildings, the reconstruction of the lost part of the historical contour, and new houses. All of them are harmonized with each other and with the city; axes and “beams of light” were found, cozy corners and scenic viewpoints were carefully thought out. We had a chat with the authors of the historical buildings’ restoration project, and we are telling you about all the different tasks that have been solved here.

Object

The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement

In 2022, Ostozhenka Architects won a competition, and in 2023, they developed and received all the necessary approvals for a master plan for the development of Chernigovskaya Street for the developer GloraX. The project takes into account a 10-year history of previous developments; it was done in collaboration with architects from Nizhny Novgorod, and it continues to evolve now. We carefully examined it, talked to everyone, and learned a lot of interesting things.

Object

A Single-Industry Town

Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.

Object

A New Age Portico

At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.

Object

A New Starting Point

We’ve been wanting to examine the RuArts Foundation space, designed by ATRIUM for quite a long time, and we finally got round to it. This building looks appropriate and impressive; it amazingly combines tradition – represented in our case by galleries – and innovation. In this article, we delve into details and study the building’s historical background as well.

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Molding Perspectives

Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.

Object

An Educational Experiment for the North

City-Arch continues to work on the projects that can be termed as “experimental public preschools”: private kindergartens and schools can envy such facilities in many respects. This time around, the project is done for the city of Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. A diverse educational and play environment, including a winter garden, awaits future students, while the teachers will have abundant opportunities to implement new practices.

​Vladimir Kovalev: “What matters in architecture is the factor of responsibility”

An interview with the founder and president of “Olimpproekt” Vladimir Kovalev about his company being a “smart machine”, its main asset a team of like-minded people.

Vladimir Kovalev: “What matters in architecture is the factor of responsibility”