Formation of the architecture of developing business centers in special economic zones
Bio-similar modeling principle
A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a relatively isolated part of the country with established special legal regime for business, including tax, customs, administrative and civil benefits and guarantees [1, 2]. Today in Russia there are four tourist-recreation economic zones, two port areas, four engineering innovation zones and six industrial production zones (IP SEZ) [3].
The authors have developed a new technique for designing developing business centers as the parts of the social area of the SEZ.
A Business Center (BC) in SEZ is a place where the main processes associated with the activities in the economic zone go on, the assurance services for the residents of the SEZ supplying them with all necessary things for business are rendered, the "one window" service is functioning, there is a conference hall, an exhibition center, a medical office, a recreation room, a dining room, rented office space, etc. It combines the functions of an ever-growing research center [4].
According to the methods of construction of SEZ accepted in Russian design practice, the erection of infrastructure elements for business centers is carried out in advance.
The suggested method of designing developing business centers in SEZ takes into account the special features of their construction and operation in a rapidly changing economic environment. Abusiness center is considered as a living organism, the development of which has regular, irreversible and directional character in accordance with the principles of natural growth patterns (bio-similars).
We represent the development of the BC in terms of architectural bionics [5], by analogy with a natural object – a potato tuber. We divide the process of the BC development into several stages, corresponding to the phases of ontogenesis of higher plants, which also includepotatoes taken for an analogue (Fig. 1) [6].
Ontogenesis is the development of an individual, the totality of its transformations from the origin to the end of the life cycle [7].
Structure of the parent module
We define the transformations of the space-planning solutions that take place at each stage of the development of the business center.
Stage 1. Embryonic period.
The start of the development. Its duration is from a few months to a year. At this stage the government bodies take the decision on the establishment of the economic zone, the concept of a space-planning solution of the BC is developed. The readiness of the infrastructure elements is not more than 5 %.
Fig. 1. The ontogenetic stages for potato plants
At the territory of the business center in the IP SEZ, a "starting" structure is created, on the basis of which the structural elements of the SEZ "life support" are laid. These may be the control rooms, conference rooms, waiting rooms, instrument rooms and information studios, etc. This building should be named as the parent module following the example of the potato bio-similar, the cultivation of which begins with the planting of the parent tuber. The parent module is a mobile box made from pre-fabricated structures that can be built directly at the construction site or delivered as a finished product by the trailer. Also for the purpose of creating of «starting» structuresat the BC territory, the light membrane structures and air shells can be applied, the use of which allows starting the development of the economic zone as soon as possible. Taking into account the construction industry, well-developed metallurgical plants and finishing enterprises, we recommend the use of pre-fabricated structures as the most economical and aesthetic ones.
The parent module has a free plan of its interior space (Fig. 2, Fig. 3), where, at a certain distance from each other in the floor structure, the points of connection to the utility networks are placed. This ensures at the initial stage of development of the BC the possibility of rapid changesin the design solutions in the process of accumulation of information concerning the development of SEZ coming from the zone residents, the administration and the business community, as well as other stakeholders.
According to the results of this study, the parent module must include the following set of functional areas:
• administration area;
• service area;
• customs area;
• area of logistics;
• religious worship space.
We propose to place the administration area in the center of the parent module. It should include a negotiations table for the operational management of the SEZ development and a widescreen for the monitoring of the progress of construction of the economic zone from different points.
An important technological feature of the parent module solution is the use of an intelligent information management system of the SEZ, which, through the installation of a satellite dish-shaped aerial on the dome roof, can be remotely controlled from anywhere in the world. We suppose to put it under the arch of the parent module in a spherical tank.
An important technological feature of the parent module solution is the use of an intelligent information management system of the SEZ, which, through the installation of a satellite dish-shaped aerial on the dome roof, can be remotely controlled from anywhere in the world. We suppose to put it under the arch of the parent module in a spherical tank.
Fig. 2. Parent module: 1 – plan view; 2 – general view
Fig. 3. Parent module: sectional view. Legend: 1 – information unit; 2 – communication centre; 3 – information panel; 4 – partitions; 5 – false floor; 6 – main entrance
Stage 2 of the BC development.
During the second year of the development of the business center in IP SEZ on the basis of the parent module, the headquarters of construction of the economic zone is created, the infrastructure elements are erected, the engineering services are laid, the roads are being built. The land plot allocated for the construction of the BC, is being prepared for the construction. This process is similar to the branching of the root system of plants, natural objects and living organisms (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Branching processes in the environment: 1 – tract of forest; 2 – natural phenomena; 3 – sea animals; 4 – river delta; 5 – rock mass
Stage 3 of the BC development.
Within the period of 2 to 4 years after the start of the development of the economic zone, the first residents appear, who are erecting their own facilities in the SEZ. By this time moment, the engineering and transport infrastructure of the SEZ should be prepared by 100 %, so that at each point of the SEZ there was an opportunity to make a connection to the communications system.
Stage 4 of the BC development.
Within the period of 4 to 7 years after the start of development process, as a result of the increase of the power of the business center, at its territory the new buildings are erected on the basis of the constructive-planning cell. It takes into account the specific character of individual functional areas and is universal.
In [8], the data concerning three "structural morphological units" are shown. These figures are the initial modules both for natural and architectural forms on the basis of three symmetry types (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5. Morphological structural units. L – the symmetry axis, P – the symmetry plane
Fractal shaping on the basis of a structural-planning cell
We offer a structural-planning cell, the solution to which uses a second morphological unit. It allows the development of a business center in mutually perpendicular directions, which corresponds to the specific character of the construction of buildings and structures for industrial enterprises, most of which are of rectangular shape. In natural structures, this type of growth is widespread among the members of the plant kingdom (Fig. 6).
Dimensions of the constructive-planning cell of the BC in the IP SEZ are the following:
· the unit for administrative offices, where the work does not require the use of technological equipment: the plan: 3x6 m, the height: 3.3 to 4.2 m;
· the customs offices and laboratories: the plan: 6x6 m, the height: 3.6 to 4.2 m;
· the service rooms, logistics premises and the customs control zone; the plan: 12.0 x12.0 m, the height: 4.8 to 6.0 m.
Fig. 6. Example of a symmetrical growth of geranium leaf plates (the photo made by the author)
These dimensions of constructive-planning cell allow to place in the BC all necessary engineering systems and the apparatus of special technological equipment in accordance with the structural elements of the building.
Stage 5 of the BC development.
During the period of 7 to 10 years after the start of the SEZ construction the formation of structures of the business center is completed on the basis of a constructive-planning cell. If necessary, the reconstruction of buildings and structures of the BC is carried out for the purpose of prolongation of their life cycle.
Stage 6 of the BC development – completion.
At this stage the future use of the area and infrastructure of the SEZ is considered. The dismantling and recycling of worn-out facilities in the business center are produced.
According to the existing legislation, the validity period of the SEZ is 50 years. However, the available examples of economic zones created in the 1990-s and the zones created after 2005 confirm that the end of the operation of IP SEZ can occur before the specified deadline. The reasons for this may be a low investor interest to the SEZ project, the lack of necessary conditions for the development, legislative imperfections, etc.
The possibility of untimely termination of operation of a business center in the SEZ as a result of social-and-political changes or other factors makes economically advantageous the use ofbuildings made from pre-fabricatedelements, including the use of air shells, at early stages of development of the BC.
It should be noted that the development of the business center is supposed to be carried out not by a mechanical addition of design-planning modules to the existing structures. In accordance with the bio-similar principle of modeling, the BC development should be carried out with the use of the fractal property of similarity (Fig. 7) [9]. For this purpose, the territory supposed for the IP SEZ should be developed as a whole. The road network should be paved, structuring the space into the blocks of equal size in increments multiple by 6 m, which determines the current standard size values and the spans of industrial structures (6, 12, 18, 24, 36 m). With consideration of the aforesaid step value, we recommend to take the distance between the main communication nodes of the buildings equal to 72 m, that between the main thoroughfares in the economic zone within the length of 660 to 720 m [10]. Typically, these routes are the continuation of urban highways or go parallel to them.
The starting point of the growth of the SEZ should be a business center, around which industrial buildings will be formed in due course. Dimensions of the individual structures can be freely varied by adding or reducing the amount of construction-planning cells with the overall concept of development not to be violated. This condition is important because the substitution of existing facilities for the technologically more advanced ones should be done in due course.
Fig. 7. The development of the business center and the SEZ using fractal properties: 1 – business centre in SEZ; 2 – construction planning cells; 3 – territory of the IP SEZ; 4 – factory sites (industrial sites); 5 – reserve territories; 6 – green plantations
Thus, already at the stage of creating a future project, the algorithm of its development is laid. The use of the technique of constructionof developing business centers in the process of formation of engineering infrastructure of the SEZ will solve in practice a number of questions related to the special features of the construction of the aforesaid facilities and their further maintenance, as well as change the parameters of space-planning solutions of the business center of the IP SEZ according to rapidly changing time demands.
References
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