New skyscrapers have been added to the list of the tallest buildings in Russia

Last year, the World Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) conducted a study of skyscrapers in Russia specifically for the 100+ Forum Russia. According to experts, by 2014, 101 high-rise buildings "taller" than 100 meters had been built in the country. Of these, 83 are in the capital, the rest are in the regions. In 2015, the list was updated to reflect the newly commissioned skyscrapers.

As in the previous year, the first line in the rating remains behind the Mercury City tower (338.8 m, 75 floors) MMDC "Moscow City". But a new representative of the Moscow City family, the OKO skyscraper, was added to the top ten. The North Tower of the Oko complex surpassed the Federation Tower by 2.6 meters and took the 7th place in the list of the tallest buildings in Russia.

Outside of Moscow, the Vysotsky Business Center (188 m), built in Yekaterinburg in 2011, is still considered the highest on the 14th place in the list. The next contender for this title is the multifunctional complex Iset Tower (209 m) in the Yekaterinburg City business center, which is currently in the final stage of construction.

In addition to Moscow and Yekaterinburg, buildings over 100 meters have been built and operate in St. Petersburg, Grozny, Krasnogorsk, Samara, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Sochi and Kazan.

According to the World Council on High-Rise Buildings and the Urban Environment (CTBUH), the development of high-rise construction in Russia is uneven. The first peak during which Stalin's skyscrapers were built occurred in the 1940s and early 1950s. However, after the death of Joseph Stalin, interest in skyscrapers waned.

The starting point of the second peak in the development of high–rise construction in Russia can be considered 1996 - it was then at a meeting of the Moscow Government that a report was made on the planning and construction of the Moscow City Business Center on the territory of the former industrial zone. Since that period, 64% of the tallest buildings in Russia have been built in the country.

According to the type of high-rise buildings in our country, residential and multifunctional complexes are the leaders (their share is 55%). A significant share - 20% - is occupied by office complexes, 10% - by hotels. Comparing these figures with global trends, the CTBUH experts note that this is a fairly low percentage compared to the United States, where during the heyday of high-rise construction, the majority of skyscrapers were located in office complexes and headquarters of large companies. The "American" type of market development, which involves an increase in the volume of high-rise construction due to the number of headquarters of large companies and modern business centers, has not caught on with us. The largest project of this type is the Lakhta Center high-rise complex (462 m), which is under construction on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Two of the tallest buildings in the northern capital are included in the ranking of the tallest buildings in Russia.: Business center "Leader" (140 m, 40 floors) on the 35th place and the residential complex "Prince Alexander Nevsky" (124 m, 36 floors) on the 64th.

High-rise construction in Grozny is developing according to the "Middle Eastern" type, that is, investments are attracted under the personal authority of the head. This practice is successfully applied in a number of countries — the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, neighboring Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The 101st places in the rating of Grozny skyscrapers were distributed as follows: Phoenix Residential Complex (145 m, 40 floors) is in 33rd place, the Grozny City Hotel (137 m, 32 floors) is in 43rd place, and the Grozny City Office Tower (120 m) is in 78th place., 29 floors).

Currently, the implementation of large–scale business districts in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Grozny has entered a crucial stage – deadlines have been set for the construction of projects and "developer - architect - engineer" teams have already been formed for most of them. In other cities with elements of high–rise buildings - Kazan, Ufa, Volgograd, Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg – high-rise buildings are dotted and occupy an increasing share in the planning of urban development.

High-rise construction in Russia is going through difficult times today. The banking crisis of the end of 2014 is having an impact. As a result, the commissioning of several of the largest facilities in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and other cities is postponed. In order for the growing high-rise construction market to not only survive, but also develop successfully, it needs new SNIPs, new technologies and building materials, and a new approach to calculating the economic efficiency of high-rise buildings under construction.

Skyscrapers should not frighten citizens with their awkward shapes, delayed commissioning dates and lack of tenants. Only high-rise buildings that are well planned and built using advanced technologies, which will become the subject of healthy pride of their owners, will be able to survive in the conditions of recession.
The prospects for high-rise construction will be presented in more detail at the 100+ Forum Russia in Yekaterinburg on September 23-25, 2015.