The competition took place in 2023 in two stages. Three companies reached the final, taking decent prizes: Wowhaus, GORA, and Asadov Architects.

The winner – Wowhaus – assembled the largest team for the project: the consortium included horovod.space, Sheredega Consulting, VERSUS finance, and Kultura Sveta (“Culture of Light”).

Currently, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky lacks a clearly defined center from an urban planning perspective. Therefore, the main requirement for the project was to create a space that would stimulate the transformation of the urban environment – the public and cultural center should become a new attraction for residents and tourists. The contestants also took into account the natural features of Kamchatka: high seismic activity and harsh weather conditions.

The city allocated a site on the Ozernovskaya Spit for the project – geographically, this strip of land between Avacha Bay and Lake Kultuchnoye can be called the heart of the city. Also, the future center’s windows will offer views of Nikolskaya and Petrovskaya hills. A few important city landmarks are also located here: Lenin Square, the Kamchatka Territory government building, the university, the drama theater, and the exhibition center. Identifying this part of the city as the center of public life is somewhat hindered by large asphalted spaces, long distances between these buildings, and lack of connectivity between them.