Evolution Tower

에볼루션 타워

A 246 m office tower (RMJM / Tony Kettle with Philipp Nikandrov) whose floors each turn by about 3°, twisting the whole building through some 156°, with white ribbons spiralling up its corners.

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At a glance

Country: Russia
Location: Moscow, Russia
Built: 2014
Height: 246 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is Evolution Tower?

Evolution Tower is in Moscow, Russia.

When was Evolution Tower built?

Evolution Tower was built in 2014.

How tall is Evolution Tower?

Evolution Tower is about 246 m tall.

The Evolution Tower is a 55-storey office skyscraper in the Moscow International Business Centre, a cluster of towers in Moscow, Russia. It is 246 metres tall and has about 169,000 square metres of floor space. It is known for its futuristic twisting shape, which looks like the double helix of DNA.

British architect Tony Kettle designed it together with Karen Forbes, an art professor at the University of Edinburgh. Work started in 2011 and the tower was completed on 6 October 2014. In 2016 the oil pipeline company Transneft bought it for about one billion US dollars to use as its headquarters. It is the twelfth-tallest building in Russia and the 20th-tallest in Europe.

Why does it twist?

The designers wanted a building that looks like it is moving. Each of the 51 main floors turns about 3 degrees from the floor under it, and together the floors twist the tower through more than 150 degrees. The central core and eight columns stay straight all the way up, and only the four corners follow the spiral.

The design is compared to a DNA double helix. Two ribbons wrap around each other, which may stand for individuals, generations and families linking together.

Building and owners

The first plans for the site were for a different tower called City Palace, but the 2008 financial crisis stopped that project. The site was sold in 2010 and an office building was chosen instead. The exact cost is unknown, though one newspaper quoted an expert estimate of 446 to 520 million US dollars.

It earned second place in the Emporis Skyscraper Award for 2015, which picks the world's best new skyscrapers.

Inside and around

The tower stands on a three-level base called the Evolution Gallery, whose roof has fountains, terraces and cafes. Exits lead directly to the Vystavochnaya metro station, and a car park below holds 1,292 cars.

At the top, two lopsided arches 41 metres wide join the opposite sides of the building. They were made in Piedmont, Italy, and shipped to Russia. The lifts use two cabins in one shaft, which cut the number of shafts from twelve to ten.

Fun facts

A building that turns 3 degrees on every floor ends up twisted by more than 150 degrees at the top.
Transneft is said to have paid about one billion US dollars for the tower in 2016.
Its crown arches were made in Italy and shipped to Moscow.
Two lift cabins share one shaft, so fewer shafts were needed.