Lakhta Center. The Spire

Sophisticated design, purity of lines and integrity of the concept are the key features of any iconic architectural project. The Lakhta Center is a prime example that confirms this rule. It has nothing superfluous: a clean and airy silhouette made complete by the spire, a stylistically essential element in any skyscraper. The spire extends the shape of the building and represents a pyramid with edges meeting at the top. It logically completes the complex geometry of the four hundred and sixty-two meter tall skyscraper. The frame of the spire comprises 8 main levels made of steel pipes ranging from one to one and a half meters in diameter and finishes with an 8-meter tall element. The Lakhta Center spire is not only beautiful but also functional. Its operated level at the altitude of 360 meters will house the highest observation deck in Russia and Europe. It’ll occupy the building’s top floors from 83 to 86. The complex shape of the building excludes using traditional façade cleaning methods and requires special engineering solutions. The space right above the observation deck will house a depot for a unique building maintenance system with a kind of a vertical train moving along the rails installed in the edges of the Tower between the facade panels. Such a system makes it possible to clean or replace glass panels even in the most hard-to-get-to places on the complex surface of the skyscraper. Spires are the most recognisable elements in the classic St Petersburg cityscape creating the image of the Northern Capital. The silhouettes of the Peter and Paul fortress and the Admiralty are known all over the world. Lakhta Center will become an architectural dominant of the modern St Petersburg, and yet another landmark in the cityscape. --- Site project -