Creation as a principle, Dmitry Cherepkov. president of Nayada group
Nayada was established in 1995. By 1997 the company had designed, and launched production of, the first system of office partitions to be made in Russia, NAYADA-Standart. In the years that followed the company expanded its range and developed a regional network.
Today NAYADA is a leading European developer and manufacturer of partition walls. Every year, it realizes approximately 5000 projects; it also manufactures office and frameless furniture.
Often the process of interaction between various participants in the realization of an architectural or interior-design project presents itself as a fight between the authors of these projects on the one hand and the builders, decorating contractors, or providers of special structures and elements, on the other hand. The stumbling stone is usually non-standard ideas proposed by the architects or designers – ideas that are fraught with considerable difficulties for the companies that have to convert them into reality.
Nevertheless, it is possible to find in Russia manufacturers who not merely jump at the opportunity to realize something special, but also, by holding specialized competitions, actually goad architects and designers on to develop non-standard ideas.
speech: What is Nayada’s corporate philosophy and what has been the main factor in the company’s success?
Dmitry Cherepkov Our mission can be expressed in one word: create. Our history is the path from one achievement to another. First we developed technology for manufacturing partitions. Then we started developing the structure of our company itself – by building a regional network that comprises almost 20 branches in Russia and the CIS. For us reliability is to be useful and to find increasingly perfect solutions from both the technological and human point of view. And our range is a result of our initial emphasis on "creating".
Total area: 2 846 sq.m. Realization: 2011
speech: In what directions is Nayada developing at the moment?
D C We are putting more energy into developing what is a new direction for the company: production of furniture under brands such as Smartball and Lepota. We successfully showed Lepota at Milan this year. At the same time we are launching new production lines at our glass-making factory, are installing modern European equipment for tempering glass, and are planning to launch production of smart glass. Above all, we also want to specialize in manufacturing and selling exclusive doors. This product has a good chance of doing well when sold for use in private homes and for spaces with unconstrained design that needs unusual solutions.
Office of Oil&gas company. Total area: 121 sq.m. Realization: 2011
speech: Which of your recent projects would you particularly draw attention to?
D C In Moscow alone we do approximately 200 projects each month. They are all different, ranging from small to large-scale. One of our latest and perhaps most important is the reconstruction of the Bolshoy Theatre, for which we created an enormous, 6 metres high and almost 100 metres long, transformable sound-absorbent partition to separate off one of the large halls. In addition to the size of this screen, another difficulty was its curving shape. To install it, we had to adjust each part of it and very precisely calculate all the gaps and joins.
Office of Euroset. Total area: 1 500 sq.m. Realization: 2010
speech: What qualities are necessary in order to implement such projects?
D C We are a services provider and one of the most important things is flexibility, the ability to adapt to the changing market situation and the requirements of the client. Over the past few years we have grown into the largest company on the market, with more than 1000 employees.
We have a large range of products and our own production line with several different collections and systems that we manufacture. It’s an enormous machine which exists according to established rules and has a strong inclination towards maximal stability. Our goal is to be large and to grow further, but at the same to continue to be as flexible as we were 10-15 years ago–combining reliability and responsibility with creativity and convenience for our clients.
Fitness&spa center Pride Wellness Club. Total area: ~5 000 sq.m. Realization: 2011
speech: Why is Nayada organizing competitions for architects?
D C Architects are our partners, and we value them. Six years ago, we conceived of our "Archi-competition" as a part of this process, a way of establishing productive contacts with professionals, of exchanging ideas, and of expanding what our company can offer in terms of technology.
This year we made important changes to the competition, its programme, the judging system, and even the design. From now on, our competition will be called "NAYADA ArchiChallenge" (www.archichallenge.ru) and will be more practical, focusing on those sectors of our business whose development is currently important to us. This means, above all, our furniture collections. The winning projects will be launched as production models under the names of their creators, who will receive a percentage of the revenue from the sale of their pieces all over the world.
Office of Discovery Communications. Total area: 642 sq.m. Realization: 2011
speech: What other forms of interaction with architects do you practise?
D C The competition entrants have always included many students from specialized institutions of higher education, such as the Stroganov School of Applied Art, the British School of Design, and Moscow Architecture Institute. But their works have always displayed a serious lag between their creativity and their knowledge of technology. In the end, in consultation with design schools, we worked out a solution, and now students from the Stroganov and British schools regularly visit our production facilities – where they can see glass, veneer, and metal all being worked with under the same roof.
We also offer opportunities to build prototypes of their diploma and programme works using our equipment. These visits make us part of the system of education and help to create the right kind of environment for future designers and architects.
