Crystal Island, Moscow

British architects are leading the way in developing new techniques for buildings in Russia that need to cope with extreme temperatures.

In Moscow architect Sir Norman Foster's firm is to build the largest single building in the world with a special breathable skin.

And in St Petersburg UK architects RMJM have developed a 'green fur coat' for Europe's tallest building, the 396m high Okhta Tower.

Crystal Island, Foster's ambitious project In Moscow will be like a city within one building and have apartments, hotels, an international school, cinemas, a sports complex and panoramic views of Moscow from viewing platforms 300 meters high.

'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 a "smart" skin which buffers against climate extremes,' said Sir Norman.

The skin is just one of a number of sustainable features aimed at keeping the building warm in Moscow's cold winters and cool in the summer. It will work by having a tent-like outerskin that is breathable but acts like a thermal buffer for the main structure. It will seal itself in winter to minimize heat loss and open in summer so that the interior is cooled naturally.

Efficient energy management will incorporate on site renewable and low carbon energy generation.

With completion set for 2014 it is set to become a modern landmark on the Nagatino Peninsula of the Moscow River, about seven kilometers from the Kremlin.

Meanwhile in St Petersburg British firm RMJM have developed a unique way to keep Russians warm in minus 30C winters by covering their buildings in 'intelligent fur coats' lined with green plants. The 79-storey high Okhta Tower, the new HQ of energy giant Gazprom, will be cased in two giant glass and steel sensor-lined 'envelopes' with plants and shrubs filling the buffer zones in between.

The design will slash the cost of heating in cold weather while utilising intelligent ventilation to keep people cool in summer. The plants provide natural thermal insulation during winter and create a rich source of fresh air to ventilate and keep offices cool during the summer. This green buffer zone will use sensors to respond to the weather.

'The building will be alive, it will breathe, think and make decisions about how best to use energy,' said RMJM director of group design Tony Kettle.

'In cold weather, it takes warm air out of the offices before they become overheated and this half way green insulation zone between the outside and inside temperatures reduces heating fuel costs. For example, the office temperature might be 21 degrees, the buffer zone 10 degrees, while minus 30 degrees outside. In warmer weather, the technology takes fresh air from outside into the green buffer zone, and in turn moves that fresh air in to cool the office space,' he explained.

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