Lakhta Center
RMJM + Gorproject · Saint Petersburg, Russia · 2018
Lakhta Center is a 462-metre office tower whose five-sided floor plates rotate as they rise, creating a tapering glazed spire on the edge of the Gulf of Finland. The structural system combines a reinforced-concrete core, perimeter columns and outriggers to resist wind at extreme height. Its location outside Saint Petersburg’s historic center was intended to establish a new business district rather than insert the skyscraper into the protected skyline. Architecturally completed in 2018 and opened later, it is Europe’s tallest building and a major contemporary Russian high-rise.