Making Icons

What impact has the firm had on Kazakhstan over the years?

This year, KAZGOR Design Academy will celebrate its 85th anniversary. Over this time, we have completed almost 8,000 projects of different types. Our experience comprises the most iconic and impressive buildings in Kazakhstan.

What specific sector are you targeting to expand your activity?

From our perspective, we would like to participate in more projects in the public and infrastructure sectors. We are also interested in the design of camps and auxiliary facilities for industrial and mining projects.

Design engineering and urban planning design are among the core activities of the KAZGOR. In that regard, how is KAZGOR supporting the development of the city of Astana?

KAZGOR has been involved in the development of Astana from the outset. In the beginning, we drafted a normative document regulating the urban planning for Astana and designed several projects in the capital. From an architectural and construction point of view, the city is very dynamic and in my opinion, it has surpassed Almaty in terms of construction activity. Astana will host Expo 2017, and we have been involved in this project since the early stages. In fact, our international contest schematic proposal for Expo 2017 has been ranked among the top 10 designs. Initially, we were appointed as the local consultant of Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architects. Currently, we provide our services to the Expo project under the signed consultancy agreement.

The government has recognized KAZGOR as a science and educational institution. What is the company’s commitment to knowledge transfer?

We are actively supporting the Kazakhstan Union of Architects. On the base of KAZGOR, we also operate the Kazakh Designers Association, the public organization that constitutes the membership of more than 60 different companies. This association actively works to represent the interests and rights of its members. The Technical Committee TC 55 for design and construction is based at KAZGOR as well. We are conducting research and bringing proposals to the government for ways to improve and update regulations and codes related to the construction industry. This is our mission and we expend significant efforts toward it. KAZGOR is also introducing the best international standards to the country, especially those from Europe and America. In the future, we will strengthen our cooperation with architectural institutions and universities. Traditionally, we host master classes where we invite esteemed local and international architects to share their experience with the local community of students and experts.

What are your short-term priorities and targets?

In order to reach all of our targets, we have created a performance management system that can be used for any type of business. Thanks to this system, we are constantly monitoring our activities and reaching all of our financial and strategic goals. This gives us confidence and we plan to improve our business further. Our plan is to extend our presence in major projects. We also want to broaden our cooperation with foreign investors and new partners. We are a system-based, properly organized, modern and universal company well positioned in the local market to be the best partner for executing any construction design project.