This year’s completion of the 2.2 million-sf Eurasia Tower, designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (Swanke), represents the successful culmination of a decade-long immersion in the development of “New Russia,” and expands the firm’s international architectural expertise to include high-rise, mixed-use design.
The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center (MIBC) or “Moscow City.”
The complex and the tower are based on futuristic development standards of a world class financial center and intermodal hub. Using the best of the 21st century's innovative technologies, the center intends to rival those of New York City and London and be one of the most desirable locations in Russia and Europe. It was recently designated the fourth tallest skyscraper in Europe by Emporis, the international provider of building data.
The Eurasia Tower is the second Swanke-designed building rated by Emporis, which also rated the Is Bankasi Towers Complex among the top-ten innovative and imposing designs of notable bank buildings around the world. The Is Bankasi design brought Swanke to the attention of Summa, a Turkish international contractor/developer working for Russian investors, and led to the Eurasia Tower commission in 2007.
Eurasia Tower is 1,013 feet high. Within it are 50 floors of Class A office space and 20 floors of luxury residential apartments with their own gymnasium and pool on the 50th floor. The tower sits on a retail and entertainment podium that includes boutiques, restaurants, bars, a 149-room hotel, and parking.
As one of the more refined towers in the MIBC complex and the third tallest, the architectural skin of the building reinforces the purity of the tower volume over the complexity of the program within. The unitized curtain wall allows the transition from the office floors of fixed windows to operable windows on the residential floors. The overall architectural form is developed as a pure glass, curving, curtain wall tower with its broad faces versus its tripartite ends sitting on a multi-volume podium.
The success of Eurasia Tower led directly to Swanke's re-commission last year to design a tower complex, Project Silver, in Moscow. It will be a 1,437-unit, upmarket, residential complex with three 52-story towers, on a two-story, above-grade, mixed-use podium of residential amenities, office, retail, and parking. Much attention is being given to seamlessly integrate this 3.2 million-square foot complex into the surrounding neighborhood adjacent to a public park.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Sep 18, 2023
Top 200 Office Building Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, Stantec, HOK, and Interior Architects top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest office building sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all office building work, including core and shell projects and workplace/interior fitouts.
Resort Design | Sep 18, 2023
Luxury resort provides new housing community for its employees
The Wisteria community will feature a slew of exclusive amenities, including a market, pub, and fitness center, in addition to 33 new patio homes.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Sep 18, 2023
Life of an Architect Podcast Ep. 134: Management 101
It happens to most people eventually. Some get there quickly, while others take a bit longer. Transitioning into a management role is a natural evolution of skill development, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier. Chances are you’re ready for management, but in case you’ve questions, we think we have answers.
Hotel Facilities | Sep 15, 2023
The next phase of sustainability in luxury hotels
The luxury hotel market has seen an increase in green-minded guests looking for opportunities to support businesses that are conscientious of the environment.
Adaptive Reuse | Sep 15, 2023
Salt Lake City’s Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse will transform into a modern workplace for federal agencies
In downtown Salt Lake City, the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse is being transformed into a modern workplace for about a dozen federal agencies. By providing offices for agencies previously housed elsewhere, the adaptive reuse project is expected to realize an annual savings for the federal government of up to $6 million in lease costs.
Data Centers | Sep 15, 2023
Power constraints are restricting data center market growth
There is record global demand for new data centers, but availability of power is hampering market growth. That’s one of the key findings from a new CBRE report: Global Data Center Trends 2023.
Engineers | Sep 15, 2023
NIST investigation of Champlain Towers South collapse indicates no sinkhole
Investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found no evidence of underground voids on the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse, according to a new NIST report. The team of investigators have studied the site’s subsurface conditions to determine if sinkholes or excessive settling of the pile foundations might have caused the collapse.
Office Buildings | Sep 14, 2023
New York office revamp by Kohn Pedersen Fox features new façade raising occupant comfort, reducing energy use
The modernization of a mid-century Midtown Manhattan office tower features a new façade intended to improve occupant comfort and reduce energy consumption. The building, at 666 Fifth Avenue, was originally designed by Carson & Lundin. First opened in November 1957 when it was considered cutting-edge, the original façade of the 500-foot-tall modernist skyscraper was highly inefficient by today’s energy efficiency standards.
Healthcare Facilities | Sep 13, 2023
Florida’s first freestanding academic medical behavioral health hospital breaks ground in Tampa Bay
Construction kicked off recently on TGH Behavioral Health Hospital, Florida’s first freestanding academic medical behavioral health hospital. The joint venture partnership between Tampa General (a 1,040-bed facility) and Lifepoint Behavioral Health will provide a full range of inpatient and outpatient care in specialized units for pediatrics, adolescents, adults, and geriatrics, and fills a glaring medical need in the area.
Adaptive Reuse | Sep 13, 2023
Houston's first innovation district is established using adaptive reuse
Gensler's Vince Flickinger shares the firm's adaptive reuse of a Houston, Texas, department store-turned innovation hub.
