A new project which has just been completed and has piqued the interest of Laurence Grigorov is officially the tallest building in Europe.
The RMJM-designed Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg is Russia and Europe's tallest building – standing 462 metres high. The twisted supertall skyscraper, which finished construction in June 2018, is the 13th tallest building in the world. Its 87 floors are currently being fitted out. Developers Gazprom, a Russian gas company that will occupy most of the building, also claim it to be the "northernmost skyscraper in the world".
The skyscraper is formed of structures tapering round a core. British architect Tony Kettle designed the tower during his tenure at RMJM, before handing the project over to Russian architects Gorproject to complete. Tapering to a point, the spire has a 90 degree twist from foundation to tip, making it the most extreme twist on a tower after the mega-tall Shanghai Tower's 120 degree twist.
Kettle said he was influenced by St Pertesburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral when designing the skyscraper, which is formed of five towers tapering around a diminishing circular core.
"My sense was very much to create something that was as light and elegant as the historical forms, capturing the changes in daylight in a similar way to that of the golden domes and spires," he said in his statement.
"The tower was designed as a simple organic spire with asymmetrical movement in its skin, to be seen as a singular landmark at city scale."
The tower is now the tallest in Europe.
Words & image courtesy of www.dezeen.com