10 18 2021

Grand opening of the Chkalov Arena Sports Complex

The grand opening ceremony of Chkalov Arena, a multifunctional sports complex built under the supervision of ASTERUS, took place on October 18, 2021. The ceremony’s guests included Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Russian Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin, Russia’s top sports personalities, and project partners.

Mayor Sobyanin noted that Chkalov Arena is “one of the largest and most comfortable sports complexes to be built in Moscow over the recent years.” He also thanked the Russian Ministry of Sports and private investors for successfully completing the project.

In turn, Minister Matytsin said that Chkalov Arena is not a simple sports complex, but also an attraction point for thousands of Moscow residents. Its location is in high demand, and it caters not just to athletic teams, but to children as well. “This makes me so proud of our work. I would like to thank the city and Mayor Sergey Semyonovich Sobyanin personally,” he said.

Located at 73 Lyotnaya Street, Chkalov Arena is part of the ÁLIA residential district. The arena is among Moscow’s largest sports complexes, exceeding a total of 32 thousand square meters in size. Its facilities include: an ice arena with two separate venues, a hockey training center, a rhythmic gymnastics center, a fencing center, and a universal sports hall. The complex’s guests will be able to use overground and underground parking, cafés, a laundry, a dry cleaner’s, a sports equipment store, a skate sharpening facility, and even a beauty parlor. A fitness center with a pool is to open here in the nearest future.

Chkalov Arena is an innovative space. Its architectural, functional, and engineering solutions are the creation of an international expert team. Among the members of that team are the SKIDMORE, OWNINGS & MERRILL, OFIS ARHITEKTI, and MEERSON and VORONOVA bureaus. The project was funded by Vi Holding Development together with an international investor consortium, which includes sovereign wealth funds of Russia (Russian Direct Investment Fund), Saudi Arabia (Public Investment Fund), United Arab Emirates (Mubadala Fund), Kuwait, and Bahrain. The funding was provided by Russia’s largest banks. The general contractor, ANTTEQ LLC, handled construction under the supervision of ASTERUS.

The project received input from a number of consultants, such as the World Class fitness club chain, the Ball Territory basketball center, the Morozovo Arena ice complex, Rhythmic Gymnastics Center No. 1, Fetisov Hockey Academy, and other professional sports operators. The construction team also regularly sought advice from distinguished athletes: the figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, the hockey players Igor Larionov and Ilya Kovalchuk, and the fencer Ilgar Mamedov, to name just a few. On top of that, Chkalov Arena became Russia’s first amateur sports complex to use the Building Informational Modeling (BIM) technology. BIM technology allows for designing functional zones and utility networks, controlling visitor traffic in an optimal manner, and keeping energy efficiency at the max. It was BIM technology that made it possible to complete this sports complex within just 20 months.

The two ice venues of Chkalov Arena meet the Olympic (30 x 60 meters) and North American (26 x 56 meters) standards. The former can accommodate 210 spectators, and the latter—126. Both are equally suitable for hockey and figure skating. The hockey training center supports training off the ice and has three zones: with synthetic ice (for dribbling and throwing practice), with artificial turf (for athletics and game practice), and with polyurethane coating (for coordination, agility, and reaction speed practice).

The rhythmic gymnastics center has two gymnastics gyms and one choreography rehearsal hall. At 16 meters, the ceilings are high enough to accommodate even Olympic-level training. The center has a seating capacity of 500 people. The fencing center is the largest in Moscow and the first specialized new venue for fencers to be built over quite a number of years. It has two specialized practice halls (with nine tracks and three tracks respectively) and a gym for general physical training.

The construction of the Chkalov Arena multifunctional sports complex started in August 2019 and was completed in Q1 2021. Project developer: ASTERUS. Construction developer: Vi Holding Development. General contractor: ANTTEQ LLC.