Europe's Tallest Tower, Among Most Sustainable Buildings

ARCHITECT CLAIMS EUROPE’S TALLEST TOWER WILL BE AMONG WORLD’S MOST SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS

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   specialized 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 recognized 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.