Located within the semi-arid steppe of central Kazakhstan, Astana’s continental climate brings warm summers and very cold winters with a historic record of -51°C. Responding to the city’s temperatures that vary between -40°C and +40°C each year, environmental considerations have been an important driver of NBRK’s design.

The headquarters’ highly consolidated composition is enveloped in louvres of carved local limestone. The design takes inspiration from the outcrops and cliffs that rise dramatically from the Kazakh steppe, exposing undulating geological striations that have been sculpted over millennia by the region’s unique climatic conditions.

Considerations of annual solar radiation, temperature, humidity, prevailing winds, air quality and precipitation have contributed to the design to optimise environmental performance and enhance the comfort of the bank’s employees.

Interweaving various departments within its 13-storey cubic structure, a full-height communal winter garden is visible from each workstation within every office floor. Concentrating circulation, daylight, air movement and communal spaces within a central void for optimal environmental performance, the winter garden brings natural light deep into the building’s core and serves as a thermal chimney that exhausts warm air through vents in its roof while drawing cooler air in at lower levels. This passive airflow reduces the need for mechanical ventilation and cooling throughout the building in summer.

In colder months, the glazed winter garden has been designed to capture solar heat which is circulated and absorbed by the building’s high thermal mass structure. Creating a transitional climate zone, the winter garden also serves as a thermal buffer for the office floors.

Comprised of a unitised curtain wall system with triple-glazed sections, the façade incorporates louvres crafted from local limestone which provide solar shading and a buffer against the driving snow and blizzards generated by the strong prevailing winds of the city’s winters.

Giving the appearance of solidity from a distance, segments of these overlapping louvres open to reveal the transparency of the winter garden, ensuring high levels of natural light at every workstation and providing views of the city to all employees within.

Office floors surrounding the winter garden are connected by bridges on every third floor which provide communal areas and facilitate interaction between departments.

The high thermal mass of its primary structural system is constructed in locally produced reinforced concrete to enhance the building’s performance and significantly reduce the embodied carbon within the new headquarters by eliminating the emissions associated with long-distance transportation of materials.

Served by local and cross-city bus routes, and University Station being the closest stop on the new Astana Light Metro system, NBRK’s new headquarters is located between the government district in the south of the city and Astana’s international airport.