The information agency RIA Novosti reports that RD Group, which is the general designer and general contractor for the project, has completed more than 50% of the work on building the first phase of Dilijan International School, which totals 35,000 square meters, in Armenia.
COST OF CONSTRUCTION
Manager of the DIS construction project Dmitry Letov told journalists at a press conference on September 28 that the construction and finishing work will be fully completed in the summer of 2014 and next September the school will open its doors to welcome the first students.
“The cost of construction according to the project documentation drawn up earlier was estimated at $135 million. However, RD Group optimized a portion of the project plans, which made it possible to lower the cost of the project by several million dollars. With the money saved we managed to increase the amount of useable space of the project by more than 3000 square meters,” Letov noted.
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
The architecture of the school in Dilijan was developed by the well-known British architect Tim Flynn. The project is being implemented in two phases. The first phase (to be completed in July 2014) entails the construction of the main school building; sport and medical centers; football field; volleyball, basketball and tennis courts; student housing; multifunctional center; technical support building; garage and other facilities. The second phase (2016) will include the landscaping of parks and installation of fountains; a cafeteria; stage arts center and amphitheater for hosting international festivals; and additional housing for students and teachers.
Dilijan International School (DIS) is a philanthropy project of businessman Ruben Vardanyan. Joining Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronika Zonabend, other co-founders of the school include such well-known businessmen as Danil Khachaturov, Vladimir Avetisyan, Gagik Adibekyan, Ziyavudin Magomedov and Oleg Mkrtchan. The list of project donors includes such names as Michael Obermayer, Samvel Karapetyan, Andrei Sharonov, Sergei Sarkisov, Suleiman Kerimov, Anatoly Chubais and Viktor Vekselberg, among others. In October 2013 Dilijan International School will become a full member of United World Colleges.
RIA Novosti reported that by 2023 the number of students studying at the school should grow to 650 (coming from at least 50 different countries). The tuition will cost approximately $30,000; however, 90% of the students will attend free of charge thanks to stipends provided by philanthropists. In order to ensure that 90% of the students are provided free tuition, it is planned to create an endowment fund totaling $200 million. Talented and gifted children residing in Armenia will account for 10% of the students while another 30% are expected to come from the Armenian diaspora around the world.
RD GROUP’S PROJECTS
RD Group, founded in the 1994, is an international group of companies engaged in the full cycle of the development process: investment, construction and management of class A commercial real estate assets which meet the highest international standards. One of the main focuses of RD Group is the attraction and placement of investment. RD Group includes the construction company RD Group and management company RD Management
RD Group is the general designer and general contractor of the DIS project. Dilijan International School is one of the examples of the company’s management of projects across great distances. Today the company’s portfolio includes two other major projects which are located 2000 kilometers or more from the company’s headquarters in Moscow – the Arctic Hotel & Business Center in Murmansk and the elite residential development Rose Valley in Luxembourg.
As RIA Novosti reports, RD Group is creating, in addition to the buildings of Dilijan International School, modern engineering and road infrastructure at the site. Another project similar in scale to this one is the company’s Romanov Alley project in Moscow, where a comfortable pedestrian street is being created in a place recently occupied by ruins.