The design of the controversial new headquarters for oil giant Gazprom in St Petersburg - which, at 396m tall, will become the tallest tower in Europe and a major new landmark in the Russian city – is a key focus of an international conference on the subject of ‘Tall Buildings’ in London.

Designed by UK-based architectural company RMJM, the tower has attracted significant media coverage as heritage and conservation groups have prompted fears that the new ‘Okhta Centre’ would impact negatively on St Petersburg’s historic skyline. For the first time, RMJM will publicly instead focus attention on how the building will in fact be one of the most environmentally sustainable high rise buildings in the world.

Director of RMJM’s London office, Matt Cartwright, will address the audience at the Tall Buildings conference, which is being held on 13th February and is designed to debate the unique challenges posed by high rise buildings and the latest design and technical solutions. Cartwright, who was instrumental in the design of the Gazprom tower, will focus on the cutting edge technologies and innovative sustainability solutions adopted in the design of the building.

Energy conservation has been at the forefront of the design process of the 396m twisting glass needle from its inception.  In a country where temperatures dip to minus 30 degrees RMJM, in partnership with leading environmental engineers Battle McCarthy, has designed an innovative energy solution where the need for heating is minimal in order to reduce its environmental impact. 

The tower’s environmental strategy is based on what is being described as a ‘fur coat’ concept.  The external envelope of the tower comprises of two double glazed glass skins with an atrium between the inner and outer walls.  The atrium acts as a buffer zone providing both thermal insulation and natural ventilation at different times of the year.

The pentagram design of the tower maximises access to daylight and allows for spectacular views for the internal offices without losing heat due to exposed surface area in comparison to other structures.

In the earlier stages of the design process, results showed that 1200 different sized glass panels were needed, meaning a greater cost financially as well as a heavy environmental burden.  Subsequently after much analysis, RMJM architects working with façade specialists Newtecnic found a more environmentally friendly solution by creating seven standard panels, allowing for repetition and a vastly smaller environmental impact.

The design allows for a generous number of social spaces and green ‘breakout’ zones spread out along the floors. These enable office workers to access leisure areas without wasting valuable time and energy, in terms of vertical transportation, commuting to ground level.

Matt Cartwright, who will reveal full details of the tower’s intelligent façade, vertical transportation and specialised water, heating and ventilation solutions at the conference, said: “As a practice, we’ve been working on a multitude of sustainable buildings for the last 25 years such as the Zuckermann Institute at the University of East Anglia, the Information Commons building at the University of Sheffield, the Glaxo Welcome headquarters in Greenford and the Scottish Parliament, to name a few, but most of these have been low rise. High rise buildings are often not thought of as environmentally sustainable and, through our work on the Okhta Tower, we’ve recognised the need to facilitate environmental efficiency in the commercial world. 

“Most buildings take a limited approach to sustainability, picking a handful of issues to concentrate on which are often considered at the latter stages of the design or building process.  With this project, we thought about sustainability issues right from the start and as such it has been totally integrated into the design, frame and structure. “The Okhta tower is a complex, innovative building but we feel we have got the design right –integrating social, economic and environmental aspects in harmony.” Gazprom’s Okhta Centre will be featured alongside other high profile buildings at the conference, organised by H&V News, including the Lighthouse in Dubai and The Pinnacle in London.            

Note to editors:

1. The Okhta Centre will become the new contemporary headquarters of Russia's state-controlled gas company Gazprom. The 77ha centre will include a 396m-tall glass tower – set to become Europe's tallest building – as well as several other office buildings, a concert hall, a museum, a sporting arena and public green areas.  Built on the city's main waterway, the River Nera at a derelict industrial site, the pentagonal tower will be made of glass that will reflect the movement of the water. The frame is made of steel, with stainless steel cladding and a concrete core. The column twists up from the ground, and as the light hits it at different angles at different stages throughout the day the tower will give the appearance of changing colour. The tower is due to start in 2008 and be completed in 2012. The development is being funded with the St Petersburg City Administration paying 24.9 billion rubles ($1 billion), and Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Neft providing 30.6 billion rubles ($1.4 billion). UK-based international architectural firm RMJM was appointed in December 2006 to design the new headquarter of Gazprom and the wider Okhta Centre.  RMJM beat off 5 other internationally-renowned architects for the commission.

2. RMJM is a UK-based, international firm of architects, employing 1200 people across its network of 16 offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and the United States. RMJM’s expertise and design-led approach is successfully demonstrated in on-going projects in more than 15 countries spanning a wide range of key sectors, from corporate headquarters and waterfront residential developments to major public buildings, university campuses and large-scale regeneration programmes. The company currently has £8 billion worth of construction projects on its drawing boards, including some of the world’s most high profile and ambitious projects. 

For further information:

Claire Schiltz, Communications Manager, Europe 

T +44 (0) 131 260 3861 

E-mail: c.schiltz@rmjm.com

Darren Hutchison, Communications Assistant, Europe 

T +44 (0) 131 260 3817