A UK-based international architectural company, RMJM, has been appointed to design the new headquarters Gazprom, the Russian gas group.
The Scottish-based firm’s winning proposal is a 396-metre twisting, glass needle which it claims will echo the spires across the city of St Petersburg.
RMJM was the architectural collaborator of Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect, on the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, a building that ended up costing £430m ($851m, €639m) – more than 10 times the initial estimates.
The contest for the Gazprom contract was controversial, in part because of fears that the beauty of the Russian city would be tarnished by the building’s proposed height. RMJM defeated five other international architects for the commission to develop proposals for the $600m (€451m, £303m) tower in the historic heart of the city, close to the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge and Smolny Cathedral.
Tony Kettle, UK managing director of RMJM and lead architect on the project, said: “There has been much debate and opposition to introducing a building of this height to St Petersburg, but when you consider Paris, a city with an equally precious environment, it has been made even more special by the 324-metre high Eiffel Tower.
“I think that the quality of the tower’s design and its exclusive nature is critical here and we firmly believe that our design truly works for the city. St Petersburg is not the place to create a collection of towers like Manhattan or Paris’ La Defense. We have created something quite unique and timeless, a beautiful landmark for the city which will also set new standards for energy conservation and sustainability. Gazprom is one of the world’s most important energy companies and it is fitting that in a city of spires, this new spire should symbolise the importance of energy.”
RMJM said the the inspiration for its design came from the concept of energy in water – the site is located on the city’s main waterway, the River Neva. The five-sided tower twists as it rises.
RMJM’s proposal for the headquarters development also features a unique environmental strategy, which acts as a low-energy “fur coat”. It said the double-layered skin of the tower would allow the maximisation of daylight and the minimisation of heat loss in the extreme St Petersburg environment.
The announcement came on the same day that RMJM opened its first office in Moscow, taking the firm’s total number of offices across the world to 11.
The practice was awarded the 46-storey Moscow City Palace Tower contract earlier this year as well as leisure, residential and commercial projects across Russia.
