Construction of HSE Sports Centre to Start in October 2017

The Centre will include a swimming pool, a climbing wall, a gym, as well as dedicated space for basketball, tennis, badminton and other sports. The plan is to build the three-storey venue of almost 12,000 sq.m in under two years.

‘HSE still lacks its own sports center, and that’s why we have repeatedly asked the Moscow Mayor’s Office to assign a site for us to build a sports center on,’ said Oleg Nesterov, HSE Director for Capital Construction. ‘Before our requests, Moscow had planned to assign the 8,103-sq.m site in the Vorontsovo 35 industrial area, Konkovo district, for development as a commercial sports complex through a tender process. But after HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov contacted the Moscow city government, they decided to assign this site to the HSE Sports Center. HSE worked with Berezin and Blagodetelev architectural firm to develop plans for the Sports Center, thanks to private funds such as the Endowment. As of today, the project has passed the state tests required and been granted a construction permit by the regulators. The Sports Center construction has been included in a federal special purpose investment programme’.

The future HSE Sports Center will have a total area of 11,600 sq.m, three storeys, and an underground parking lot for 30 cars. The first floor will accommodate a café, a health center, a weightlifting gym, a sauna, and an area for sports classes. Part of the first and second floors will be dedicated to a spacious swimming pool (1,501 sq.m) boasting 50 m-long Olympic-size swim lanes. The pool area will have excellent natural light thanks to its glass walls.

In addition to the swimming pool, the second floor will include spaces for fighting and boxing classes, aerobics and dance halls, a gym and a rhythmic gymnastics room. The third floor will host an all-purpose sports venue for mini football and basketball, an indoor court for tennis and badminton, a small climbing wall, a table tennis room, and a squash court.

To accommodate wheelchair users, the architects have ensured that their designs incorporate ramps, broader lifts, specially equipped bathrooms, as well as air pressurized areas for emergencies, where they can safely wait for rescuers.

According to Oleg Nesterov, the area development density around the venue is rather high. ‘Nevertheless, the project includes planting greenery around the building, an open-air gym, as well as outdoor parking for 23 cars (including parking places for disabled)’, Nesterov stressed.