Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center

Shopping centre

Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center
View of Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, the highest tensile structure in the world

General information
Status	Completed
Type	Mall
Location	Astana, Kazakhstan
Coordinates	51°7′56″N 71°24′14″E / 51.13222°N 71.40389°E / 51.13222; 71.40389
Construction started	December 2006
Completed	July 2010
Opening	5 July 2010
Cost	US$400,000,000
Owner	Sembol Construction
Height
Antenna spire	150 m (490 ft)
Roof	90 m (300 ft)
Technical details
Floor area	100,000 m (1,100,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Foster and Partners
Engineer	Selami Gürel Vector Foiltec (climate shell)
Structural engineer	Buro Happold

Khan Shatyr (Kazakh: Хан Шатыр, romanized: Han Şatyr, lit. 'Grand Marquee') is a transparent tent-shaped Entertainment Center located in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. Built in a neo-futurist style, the architectural project was unveiled by the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on December 9, 2006.

The 90-metre (300 ft) high tent (150 m (490 ft) including the spire) has a 200-by-195-metre (656 ft × 640 ft) elliptical base covering 140,000 square metres (14 ha; 35 acres). Under the tent, an area larger than 10 football stadiums, is an urban-scale park, shopping and entertainment venue with squares and cobbled streets, a boating river, shopping centre, minigolf and indoor beach resort. The fabric roof is constructed from ETFE-cushions provided by Vector Foiltec, suspended on a network of cables strung from a central spire. The transparent material allows sunlight through which, in conjunction with the stack effect, air heating and cooling systems, is designed to maintain an internal temperature between 15–30 °C (59–86 °F) in the main space and 19–24 °C (66–75 °F) in the retail units, while outside the temperature varies between −35 and 35 °C (−31 and 95 °F) across the year.

Following the construction of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation (opened in 2006), a glass pyramid, the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center was the second national project in Astana designed by UK architect Norman Foster (of Foster and Partners), (Partners in Charge Filo Russo and Peter Ridley), and UK engineers Buro Happold led by Mike Cook. Aldar Properties was a partner in the development. Construction documentation architects were Linea and Gultekin. The construction of the tent-city was the responsibility of the Turkish company Sembol.

After a series of delays, the main mast was eventually erected in December 2008, and the whole complex was completed and opened on July 5, 2010, 70th birthday of Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Andrea Bocelli gave a concert for the occasion, with guests including the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev; the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych; the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül; the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko; the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan; the President of Tajikistan, Emomalii Rahmon; the President of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva; the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II.

References

^ Lane, Thomas (16 July 2010). "Kazakhstan: Building the world's largest tent". Building.
^ Foster and Partners page on the project Archived 2018-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
Buro Happold Press Release Archived 2010-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
Curtis, Simon; Klaus, Ian (2024). The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300266900.
Andrea Bocelli books gig in Kazakhstan, United Press International, June 15, 2010 article.
Opening of “Khan Shatyr” Trade Entertainment Center Archived 2013-08-17 at the Wayback Machine, Official Astana website - June 25, 2010.
Giant indoor park opened for Kazakh president's birthday, The Daily Telegraph, July 5, 2010 article.
Astana Press Release July 5, 2010 Archived August 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Official Astana website - July 5, 2010.

External links

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