Okhta Tower, St Petersburg
2007-
RMJM Architects

News Update - Jan 2009
Gazprom to fully fund the development now that the city won't be helping. Planning submission is due in Spring with start on site at the end of 2009.

Postponement News
The New York Times report (Nov 2008) that The mayor of St. Petersburg has submitted an amendment to next year’s budget to cut money for the city’s first skyscraper.

The economic situation is partly to blame, with Gazprom's shares dropping heavily since the tower was mooted, but it seems city finance is being redirected to a football stadium (echoing Cardiff's move to finance a sports stadium rather than Zaha Hadid's opera house).



Gazprom's new headquarters



Location: St Petersburg, Russia
Client: Gazprom
Size: 77 storeys
Year: 2006-16
Height: 1,299 ft

view across the sea to St Petersburg


Okhta Tower architects : RMJM



RMJM was appointed to design the new headquarters of one of the world’s largest companies – Russian gas giant Gazprom in December 2006.

The winning proposal is a 396 metre high twisting, glass needle which echoes the spires across the city of St Petersburg.

RMJM beat off 5 other internationally-renowned architects for the commission to develop proposals for the tower in the historic heart of the city, close to the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge and across the Neva River from the Smolny Cathedral. RMJM’s designs for the development propose a new spire for the city.





The inspiration for the design comes from the concept of energy in water - the site is located on the city’s main waterway the River Neva, with the form of the building deriving its shape from the changing nature of water, ever changing light, reflections and refraction.

Interior images:


The five-sided tower twists as it rises to delicately touch the sky. RMJM’s proposal for the headquarters development also features a unique environmental strategy, which acts as a low energy ‘fur coat’. The double layered skin of the tower will allow the maximisation of daylight and the minimisation of heat loss in the extreme St Petersburg environment.


images: courtesy of RMJM/Copyright www.glocg.com

Gazprom headquarters shortlist was a who's who of international architecture: Massimiliano Fuksas, Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Jean Nouvel, RMJM Architects



Russian Skyscraper : City Palace Tower Moscow by RMJM Architects

Gazprom Tower jury member : Norman Foster

A czarist-era rule specified that no structure, other than a church spire, should exceed the height of the city’s Winter Palace, now the Hermitage Museum.

Zoning restrictions for the site prior to the Gazprom tower project were set at 138 ft.

Okhta Tower Competition : Background to the Gazprom Competition

St Petersburg buildings

Gazprom HQ Competition jury member : Rafael Vinoly



World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Russian Tower : Crystal Island

Moscow Tower : Russia Tower

New Holland Island St Petersburg by Foster + Partners

Gazprom Tower winner : RMJM Architects

Buildings / photos for the St Petersburg Architecture page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk

Okhta Tower, St Petersburg : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt