Aviation aluminum for translucent structures of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, St. Petersburg | JSC "Politekhstroy-Svargo"

In 2024, above the courtyards of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in The construction of two glass and metal domes has been completed in St. Petersburg, and the equipment of public spaces and cafes inside the former courtyard wells is being completed in late spring.

The builders and designers have solved one of the key tasks of the reconstruction — the usable area of the historic building of the first music university of Russia has been increased by 700 square meters. m, up to 31,864 sq. m. square meters.

For the first time in In Russia, during the reconstruction of a cultural heritage site of federal significance of the 19th century, structures made of self-supporting, high-strength aluminum, rather than traditional steel, were used to erect domes.

The roof structures are made of aluminum alloy AD35T1, this alloy is comparable in strength to steel, but three times lighter. The net weight of the aluminum frame was only 15 kg/sq.m of the dome surface area.

The use of aluminum lightened the load of the translucent structure on the foundation and walls of the first music university in Russia. (The Conservatory building opposite the Mariinsky Theatre was built in 1896 using fragments of the foundation and walls of a Stone Theater built by Antonio Rinaldi in 1786). Previously, alloy AD35T1 proved itself in the aircraft industry, and its use in construction is just beginning.

Another high-strength aluminum alloy, D16T, is used in the nodal elements (asterisks) of the roof.

The special feature of the project is the high precision of the parts and the reduction of construction tolerances. The spaces between the metal and the double-glazed unit are reduced to 0.2-0.3 mm. This ensures that there are no leaks even in extreme weather conditions. When using welded steel structures, the tolerances are usually significantly higher.

The increased accuracy of the connections and the design in 3D drawings made it possible in advance, without waiting for the completion of the construction of the metal frame, to produce 400 triangular double-glazed windows, many of which have unique dimensions, to speed up the installation time of the domes by using only bolted connections and no welding, to increase the insulation density and minimize the risks associated with the human factor at all stages of the device domes. Both domes were assembled in three weeks.

The structure is designed to operate for fifty years or longer, aluminum is less susceptible to corrosion than steel and other metals. Our country has one of the largest numbers of cultural heritage monuments of federal and regional importance in Europe, at the end of 2023 their number exceeded 150,000, more than 20,000 monuments are awaiting the start of reconstruction in the next 10 to 15 years. The use of lightweight aluminum structures will speed up the restoration time, reduce the load on historical walls and foundations, and promote the spread of paperless design technologies. The environmental aspect is important — a significant part of aluminum is produced after recycling.