The Cherkizovo group, one of Russia’s largest pig producers and agribusinesses, will launch a $685 million agro-industrial project in the city of Elets, in the Lipetsk region.
The complex is described by the term ‘live-work-play’ – a term often used by cities and new developments involving new retail, housing and entertainment facilities.
The campus sits on 650 ha and is being designed so the employees can live and work all within the project boundaries. When completed it is estimated that there will be as many as 5,000 employees working on site. As part of the plan there are employee housing facilities, day care facilities, on site medical facilities, a hotel and conference centre, a technical school for training, a community centre, sports stadium and fields for recreational activities, administrative buildings, truck maintenance facilities and research and development facilities.
Other amenities include retail, restaurants and park space. There are also plans for large scale greenhouse facilities for growing assorted vegetables. The vegetables can be used for feeding the employees and also sold on the open market.
Chicken and pig processing
At the heart of the project is a large scale integrated chicken and pig processing complex with a capacity of 24,000 birds an hour and 600 pigs per hour. At full capacity this facility will be unlike any other in Russia regarding its production capabilities. It will be a large contributor to securing a self-sufficient food supply as targeted by the government.
Also part of the campus is a large scale feed mill complex with a capacity of 90 tonnes per hour including storage facilities for 300,000 tons of grain and an oil processing facility.
The project is planned in three stages with the integrated processing facility and the feed mill being the first phase. Construction has begun on the feed mill facility. It is expected to take three and a half to four years to complete all phases of the project. The processing plants are expected to be operational by 2013 and the entire campus fully functional by 2015.
Design
From the beginning, Cherkizovo Group has expressed the desire to use the latest design concepts in sustainable design and land planning to develop the most cost effective and efficient ‘campus’ as possible.
GorProekt, a Moscow based design consultant owned by the US based company M+A Global, has been hired to master plan the massive project. They are teaming with M+A Architects on the master planning design portion of the project. The US company has experience with large scale planning projects and projects that incorporate environmentally conscience design.
Cherkizovo Group has hired GorProekt and M+A Architects for the processing facility as well.
Related websites:
Cherkizovo
ma-architects.com