The Volzhsky Pipe Plant (part of the Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK)) is one of the largest pipe plants in southern Russia. In the course of large-scale modernisation of the plant, the company’s management decided to create a new spectacular image of Pipe Rolling Shop No. 2 (PRS No. 2), which has a progressive impact on the development of industrial production culture.

PRS No. 2 is an industrial building more than 750 metres long, where unique technological lines by hot pressing method produce high-tech seamless pipes used in many special industries.

We took a comprehensive approach that involved the renovation of the exterior (facades and surrounding infrastructure), interiors and guest routes of one of four workshops.

The façades were divided into key semantic planes: the front façade with the main entrance, the longitudinal side façade and the closing end façade. Each of the segments was endowed with its own idea and conceived as an independent art object that fulfils the set functional goals.

The mirror-like shine of the polished aluminium panels of the main façade is a symbol of the high technology inside the workshop. The massive volume of the facade literally dissolves into its surrounding context, reflecting the Volga grassland, the vault of the southern sky, coloured pipes, the powerful structures of industrial cranes and the water tower. The entrances to the workshop are in the form of huge pipes protruding from the workshop massif.

The side facades of the workshop are part of the intra-plant route on one side, on the other side are viewed from the adjacent city-wide thoroughfare. In order to emphasise the scale of the building, but at the same time to avoid monotony, it was decided to use contrasting supergraphics.

A palette of more than 100 colours was used to decorate the interior of the workshop, symbolising the shimmering surface of stainless alloys in the bright sunshine. The main visual effect in the interior is based on the smooth transition of colours of different shades. Each wall and ceiling panel has its own colour according to our colour scheme.

As part of the architectural design, a ‘guest route’ was developed, starting at the entrance on the side façade of the building, passing through the meeting room, allowing you to familiarise yourself with the production line to the end of the workshop, the finished product storage area and exiting through the end façade. The design of the ‘guest route’ was planned to pass through the most impressive areas of production. The internal design of the entrance and entry areas is made up of laconic black volumes clad in mirrored composite, providing a contrasting transition between the interior and exterior space.