The Vershina Trade and Entertainment Centre provides an indoor space where residents of Surgut, Russia, can escape the Siberian landscape and still-nascent urban context.
Because the days are often dark and desolate, van Egeraat focused on creating apertures in the façade to break up the elevation, rather than to allow for views. He cut vertical strips of glazing into the façade, which reinforce the irregular geometries of the building envelope. Integrated lighting in recessed lines that cut across the façade activates the building at night.
Façade detail
Façade at dusk, with site light fixtures in foreground.
The web of coves cut into the façade light up at dusk.
Visitors enter the center either via the parking levels, or through the ground-floor street entrance, which brings them into the atrium space at the southern end of the building.
A lobby in the base of the atrium contains shop directories and elevator and escalator access to the upper levels.
A typical retail floor has storefronts and kiosks, paired with places to sit and meet people, as many of Surgut’s residents use the space less for directed shopping, and more as a community hub.
The southern end of the building is dominated by a full-height atrium, which is capped by a vortex-like lighting installation that descends from the ceiling.
View of atrium ceiling from below.
The illuminated Vershina Trade and Entertainment Centre stands out in the evening skyline of Surgut.
Rednering showing the façade at night with projected advertisements.
