Open international competition for Sirius Federal Territory master plan development , Krasnodar / Russische Föderation

Press release by the Agency for Strategic Development “CENTER”

February 8, 2025

 

 

 

Elena Shmeleva, Chair of the Sirius Federal Territory Council, announced an international architectural competition to develop a masterplan for two innovative districts at a time.

 

The competition is aimed at the strongest architectural bureaus and BRICS development institutions and contains the requirements of creating a world-class advanced scientific, technological and educational environment immersed in a unique water-climatic national park.

 

The announcement of the competition was made by Elena Shmeleva, Chair of the Sirius Federal Territory Council, in Kazan today, at the Plenary Session "Human-centered City: Space of Universal Well-being" of the ”Kazanysh” International Architecture and Construction Forum: "Sirius, as the National Methodological Centre for Talent Identification and Development, endowed with this status by order of the President of the Russian Federation, must meet the highest requirements of the most talented professionals for an environment in which their potential will be realized to the maximum. Therefore, together with its partners, Sirius is creating on the only Federal territory in Russia an innovative infrastructure for advanced development in the areas of education, culture, sports, science and domestic technologies. The Sirius Federal Territory occupies only 1,400 hectares, much of which is already built up. Limited space presents a challenge for further development, requiring thoughtful and efficient use of land resources."

 

The masterplan development area includes two plots, of 23.1 hectares and 19.4 hectares respectively. It is planned to create the second stage of the scientific and technological campus of the Sirius University, as well as an innovative IT cluster.

 

The tender documentation takes into account the needs of the Innovative Science and Technology Centre residents and of the Sirius University partners, including the possibility of setting up pilot production facilities, engineering centers and data processing centers for the development of resource-saving energy, intelligent transport (including autonomous) and telecommunication systems, as well as for the development of technologies for the secure acquisition, storage, transmission and processing of information. In order to develop high-tech medicine, including personalized and preventive medical care, and to ensure healthy longevity, Sirius is creating a university medical cluster, as well as Russia's first water-climatic national park.

 

The master plan will define key scenarios for the spatial organization and functional development of each of the districts. One of the main requirements for the architectural concepts is the application of carbon neutrality standards and the overall environmental friendliness of the projects, while maximizing the functionality and logistical connectivity of both districts, as well as their connection to other (existing and planned) facilities in the federal territory.

A separate task and criterion for selecting contestants is the opportunity to create a fundamentally new landscape and park environment that continues the established Sirius’s concept of a new university city surrounded by a unique water climatic national park.

 

"Kazanysh" was chosen as the platform for announcing the Competition as it is the largest architectural and construction forum in Russia and a unique international platform for interaction between industry professionals. This year it brought together more than 300 experts and seven thousand participants, including 60 foreign guests from 23 countries. They include mayors, chief architects and representatives of specialized universities from such countries as Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

 

The competition is organized on the initiative of the administration of the Sirius Federal Territory. The operator is the Agency for Strategic Development “CENTER”. Sergei Georgievskii, co-founder of the Agency, said: "Within the framework of the Competition, we attract leading Russian and foreign industry players. Foreign participants will have to work on proposals in co-operation. In this way, Sirius can count on the best ideas and solutions to help realize its mission. This is also a unique chance for foreign companies to contribute to the development of a territory like Sirius, which offers the greatest opportunities for the implementation of bold innovative projects. They will also be evaluated by leading internationally recognized experts. To ensure that the contestants are able to prepare the most viable masterplans possible, the Operator's team will support and advise them in all areas throughout the Competition. The finalists will be able to familiarize themselves directly with the territory during special field trips".

 

The competition will be held in two stages. Three finalists will be selected based on the results of the first stage. During the second stage, they will have to prepare both specific proposals on the vision of Sirius’s future and projects for the development of the territory. In the second stage, they will have to prepare specific proposals for the architectural appearance shaping the environment and future development projects of the Sirius area.

 

Leading industry professionals, including those from abroad, have been invited to join the Jury of the Competition. According to the digital tycoon, global digital transformation expert, strategic leader of smart city initiatives, Her Excellency Dr. Aisha Bint Buti Bin Bishr: "Digital technologies reshape various spheres of city life all over the Earth – from telecommunications and transport to education and healthcare. City leaders must do their best to insure that residents and visitors have access to the services, infrastructure and opportunities that will enable them to thrive. We must support each other, work with each other and learn from each other, if we are to make our cities comfortable, safe, efficient and impactful for all residents and visitors. I am confident that the International competition for development of a master plan of Sirius Federal territory blocks will contribute to our unified goal – to make difference for urban population across the globe."

 

Applications will be accepted until May 31, 2025 on the official Competition website (siriusmasterplan.com/). A workshop where potential participants will be able to ask all questions about the Competition will be held on February 23 in Abu Dhabi as part of the Climate Day of the Sirius Talent Summit. Registration for the workshop is already open on the official website of the Competition.

 

 

The territory is located on the Black Sea coast in the Imereti Lowland, between the Mzymta and Psou rivers, surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains and a nature reserve. It is a unique platform for the implementation of innovative projects and technologies. The strategy for its socio-economic development focuses on creating favorable conditions to attract developers, technology companies and entrepreneurs, professional artists and sportspeople to the federal territory.

This requires the creation of a competitive environment that provides a high quality of life and stimulates intensive creative and innovative activity.  One of the main conditions for this is to achieve the goals of Technological Sovereignty of the Russian Federation – this is what will improve the quality of life and the level of professional training of the specialists needed to achieve it.

 

Russian analytical and consulting organization that implements complex projects in the sphere of development, urban planning and urbanism, one of the leading operators of architectural, urban planning and design competitions. Deals with issues of integrated development of territories and real estate objects, as well as of the quality of urban environment in 65 regions of Russia. The main activities of the company are elaboration of concepts of territorial development and functional programming of the environment; analytics and research; GR and public-private partnership; professional competitions in the sphere of town planning, architecture and design; organization of expert events and educational programmes; territorial branding.