Crystal Ice Palace Project Approved

The concept of the building of the Crystal Ice Palace on the territory of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex was approved today during the meeting of the Architectural Council of Moscow.

“The Ice Palace designed by the Arena Planning Institute fits perfectly into the overall ensemble of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. The palace will have a swimming pool and two skating rinks, each with a separate entrance lobby. Each skating rink will hold 250 seats for spectators. Plus, the complex will include a gym, a spa area, and other facilities. The project of the Ice Palace, as well as the entire Luzhniki territory, is closely monitored by the Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, so I think it will have been finished before the 2018 World Cup”, said the chief architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov.

The Palace fronts will have vertical bars which will help to prevent direct sunlight from coming into the building, but at the same time will not make it darker. Two entrances into the building will be decorated with stained glass architectural elements in the form of symbolic crystals.

The Ice Palace will substitute the old skating rink not far from the Small Sports Arena and the Palace of Sports in 24, Luzhniki street. The area of the building will be 24.5 thousand sq.m.: three floors above the ground (15 th. sq.m.) and an underground floor. The complex will be 20 meters high. The project customer is Arena RT, JSC; the project designer is Arena Institute of Unique Buildings Design, LLC.

The palace will hold two skating rinks, a swimming pool, a gym, a spa center, a sauna complex, cafes, and offices. “Besides that, the underground floor will serve as a parking lot for 130 cars”, said Bush.

In his turn, Sergey Kuznetsov reminded that at the moment the Luzhniki territory was being completely renovated, and he thus proposed to arrange an additional meeting with the developer of the Ice Palace project “to coordinate improvement and landscaping of the whole territory”. “It will be a very popular park after the World Cup”, noted Kuznetsov.

The construction of the Ice Palace will be carried out on the site of the existing Crystal Ice Palace, which is currently under the threat of collapse and has not been used for many years. In the creation of the concept of the Palace it was decided to follow the general style of the Luzhniki. “Following the results of the survey, the building of the former skating rink built in 1961-1963 was recognized as dangerous and under the threat of collapse”, explained Dmitriy Bush, the chief architect of the Arena Design Institute.