The Kovalska Group is establishing its own architectural and engineering studio and moving to a full design cycle using its own resources, according to the company’s press service.
“Previously, our team supervised and coordinated the work of external architects and designers, but now we will be developing projects from start to finish — from the initial sketch to the interior design. It is important for us that the architectural solution for each project reflects the high standards and style of Kovalskaya,” said Olga Pylypenko, executive director of the group.
The new architectural and engineering structure of the Kovalskaya Group brings together architects, engineers, designers, and constructors. The new division will provide a full design cycle: from concept to working documentation. Kovalskaya’s architecture and engineering services are now also available to external clients.
As noted in the release, in order to further strengthen its internal expertise and integrate best international practices into its projects, Kovalskaya will continue to collaborate with leading architectural studios around the world — no longer just as a customer, but as an equal partner in joint project development. Current partnership projects include the revitalization of the historic building of the former Kyiv Distillery in collaboration with David Chipperfield Studio and the NUVO business park, which is being created together with the Dutch firm MVRDV.
Among Kovalskaya’s own projects is the design of the group’s new plant in Rozvadov. According to Serhiy Grabars, chief architect of the Kovalskaya Group, the team focuses on leading global examples of architecture and implements the principles of sustainable development, taking into account both modern technologies and local characteristics.
The Kovalskaya Industrial and Construction Group has been operating in the Ukrainian construction market since 1956. It unites more than 20 enterprises in the field of raw material extraction, production, and construction. Its products are represented by the brands “Beton vid Kovalskoi,” “Avenue,” and Siltek. Kovalskaya’s enterprises operate in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Lviv, and Chernihiv regions. The aerated concrete plant in the Kherson region has not been operating since the beginning of the occupation.
In 2024-2025, medium and large businesses in Ukraine will more often choose private clouds – due to the requirements for data control and compliance with security standards. The trend has intensified against the backdrop of war and regulatory requirements, notes Volodymyr Bjelov (GigaCloud) in a column for Interfax-Ukraine.
The key change is the transition from “formal incident plans” to built-in cybersecurity: PAM, SIEM, SOC, encryption, DDoS protection are now considered at the level of cloud solution architecture, rather than as an “add-on”.
GigaCloud is a Ukrainian cloud provider (part of GigaGroup), founded in 2016. The company provides IaaS/PaaS services, virtual data centers, redundancy and continuity solutions (DR/BCP) and GPU clouds. The infrastructure is hosted in data centers in Ukraine and the EU (Kiev, Lviv, Warsaw) with TIER III/IV compliance; the provider has VMware Cloud Service Provider (Premier) statuses and is registered in CSA STAR Registry, portfolio – over 1.5 thousand customers.
ARCHITECTURE, BUSINESS, GigaCloud, private clouds, SECURITY, Vladimir Bjelov
Five pilot schools will be opened in Ukraine in 2024 within the framework of the project of architectural transformation of Soviet educational institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science reports.
“Next year it is planned to open five pilot schools that have been selected for the project of architectural transformation of Soviet educational institutions. These are schools in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Krivoy Rog and Zaporizhzhya, damaged by the war. They will be working already from the fall of 2024. There will not only make a new repair, but will completely rethink the typical Soviet school spaces”, – stated in the message of the press service of the Ministry.
It is noted that new design solutions in schools will allow to effectively implement the principles of the “New Ukrainian School”, in particular, qualitatively realize the activity approach in teaching, conduct experiments, flexibly adapt classes to different learning needs.
“Also, we must do everything to make schools truly safe and inclusive. And this is more relevant than ever in times of war,” the department emphasized.
According to the report, the changes in educational institutions were led and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrainian urban bureau Big City Lab, concepts were created with the participation of European architects Rebuild the Wonderful, and the creation of the concept of transformation of five pilot schools is funded by the Mariupol Reborn public organization.
ARCHITECTURE, educational institution, PROJECT, SCHOOL, TRANSFORMATION
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUCA) will prepare bachelors under a reduced three-year program.
“We are ready to solve a problem of the shortage of specialists for restoration and construction of certain facilities. Now we are developing reduced programs, analyzing how to optimize them. After the victory, our defenders will be able to take these courses and get involved in restoration of the country as soon as possible,” professor, rector of Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture Petro Kulikov said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to him, the task is to “squeeze” the four-year bachelor’s program to three years.
The KNUCA rector noted that a smaller number of applicants is expected this year. “We are losing foreign students, as interest in the country at war, of course, is falling. Colleagues in European countries have provided preferences for our applicants, and a significant number of those who have gone abroad are considering this possibility. Despite this, we hope that we will have a full-fledged enrollment,” Kulikov said.
At the same time, he noted that international cooperation between universities is expanding. “I am grateful to our colleagues from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. There are no political moments in the scientific and educational environment, there is, above all, a creative interest. In the coming days, we are signing an agreement with a French higher education institution, in June – an agreement between an association of Polish and Ukrainian universities. We are talking about the exchange of students and other forms of cooperation,” Kulikov said.
ARCHITECTURE, BACHELORS, CONSTRUCTION, KNUCA, KULIKOV, KYIV, THREE-YEAR PROGRAM, UNIVERSITY
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed to eradicate total corruption in the field of state architectural and construction control and urban planning by the end of 2019, a president’s press service reported. Zelensky set the appropriate task to Minister of Development of Communities and Territories Olena Babak during a meeting with the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers in the President’s Office.
The head of state noted the need to switch rendering of the administrative services in construction to an electronic format and introduce automatic registration in the register of approval documents.
As the President’s Office reported, Zelensky commissioned Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Maliuska to change the software of real estate and business registers to stop unauthorized access. Besides, by the end of June 2020, Maliuska must ensure the formation of the legislative framework for the operation of an electronic notarial system.
