Sberbank Headquarters, Moscow

Swiss architectural and design practice Evolution Design, in partnership with Russian architectural office T+T Architects, has developed a striking new headquarters for Russian bank Sberbank. Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, and is currently developing a new corporate district in Moscow. As part of this development, Sberbank commissioned Evolution Design to completely reconstruct a 30,000 square metre shell and core building into a new multifunctional head office featuring agile workspaces, a multi-function conference venue, various meeting rooms, co-working areas, and a restaurant for 400 people.

The internal atrium forms the basis of the architectural concept. Two 20 metre high green walls are reflected around the space by strategically placed mirror panels. Six cantilevered meeting rooms protrude into the atrium, adding a further sense of colour, life and energy. The focal point of the atrium is the diamond-shaped, mirror-clad meeting space, strung across the centre of the atrium with high tech cables and connected by a glass bridge to the sixth floor offices. Using a hidden, load-bearing, steel frame and a thin triangulated structure on which transparent and mirrored panels have been fixed, the structure appears to float in mid-air. Its asymmetrical panels reflect the surrounding atrium, giving the diamond a changeable appearance when viewed from different positions. The idea is to reflect the company’s ethos of being fluid and agile in its business.

“This suspended meeting space, which was technically very challenging to deliver, is a symbolic expression of the bank’s vision and ambition,” says Tanya Ruegg, Creative Director at Evolution Design.

The architects have also inserted a two-storey, 500-seat conference centre into the first and second floors of the atrium, with walls and ceiling constructed of 1136 individual triangular acoustic panels. The conference venue houses several meeting rooms, each clad in curved perforated metal panels in gold, rose and bronze tones, which lend a sense of quality and fluidity to the space. The perforated finishes also give the space a natural feel. The roof of the conference hall has become the heart of the head office. Spacious and filled with daylight and greenery, it features co-working spaces, informal meeting areas and a coffee bar, and acts as a magnet in connecting people. From here you can look up to see the atrium stretching six floors above. With the offices on each side, the green walls, the colourful cantilevered meeting areas and the mirrored reflections of the floating diamond, the whole space has a very futuristic quality.