British architect Sir Norman Foster and his firm, Foster + Partners, are working on a new, mixed-use development for Moscow called Crystal Island. When completed, this city within a building will house the largest area within one structure anywhere in the world. It will hold apartments, hotels, an international school, movie theatres, sports complex and more. It is schedule to be completed by 2014 and will sit on the Nagatino Peninsula of the Moscow River, about 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.
The project, being promoted by developer Shalva Chigirinsky, was approved for construction earlier this year. Moscow’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, said the innovative design differed from the “cubes and squares” of other foreign architects.
The building will incorporate a number of sustainable features that will help to keep it warm in the cold Moscow winters and cool in the hot summers. The tent-like superstructure rises to 450 meters and forms a breathable second skin and thermal buffer for the main building. Providing accommodation that is flooded with daylight, this second skin will seal itself in winter to minimize heat loss and open in summer so that the interior can be cooled naturally. Efficient energy management is at the heart of the design, with strategies including on-site renewable and low-carbon energy generation.
The architect, Sir Norman Foster, notes that: “Crystal Island is one of the world’s most ambitious building projects … It is the largest single building in the world, creating a year-round destination for Moscow and a sustainable, dynamic new urban quarter. It is a paradigm of compact, mixed-use, sustainable city planning, with an innovative energy strategy and ‘smart’ skin which buffers against climate extremes.”
The building currently has plans to hold 900 apartments, 3000 hotel rooms, a school for 500 students as well a 14,000 space underground parking lot. Visitors will be able to enjoy panoramic views of Moscow on the viewing platforms located some 300 meters above ground. This new project will help to transform an historic city that is booming with new projects.
