Kutuzovsky Ave, 32, Moskva, Russia, 121170
Sberbank commissioned Evolution Design to create a representative entrance to two adjoining high-rise towers that form part of Sberbank’s new campus in Moscow. The intervention should link the two towers and create a strong design statement within the narrow space held between the towers.
Form
One of the challenges of the brief was to create a volume large enough to accommodate all the required functions – entrance facilities for 10,000 employees who work in the two towers, several restaurants and cafés, a conference center and a spacious stepped seating – under one roof. Another challenge was that this volume should not compromise daylight into the lower levels of the towers. The architects responded to the brief with a hyperbolic paraboloid form that rises up at either end enclosing the exterior space between the towers. This dynamic saddle form solves both challenges. An immense, daylight-flooded space has been created that accommodates all the necessary functions, while minimizing sunlight obstruction to the offices in the towers.
Use of light
Thanks to the parabolic shape and by virtue of the glazed roof, the interior is flooded with daylight. Depending on the angle of the sunlight, the interior spaces and the 29 arches are illuminated, creating a strong connection between indoors and outdoors and enhancing the sense of loftiness. Particular attention has been paid to biophilia, or the desire to commune with nature: Throughout, all areas have been designed with trees, lush green-walls and hanging gardens that enliven the spaces and create a sense of an oasis.
The power of light has been deployed also externally. Both entrances at either end of the building are crowned in a series of champagne-colored triangulated panels in stainless steel that incline outwards over the squares, like delicate tiaras. This warm-colored pattern of glass bead blasted and reflective cladding ties the new structure into the ensemble of Sberbank buildings on the campus, which all feature similar cladding material. The glazed façade and the glossy steel crown create playful reflections of pedestrians arriving and leaving the towers and glow up in different shades depending on the daylight.
