Museum of Geology, Oil and Gas, Siberia, Russia

The Museum of Geology, Oil and Gas is to be opened in 2004 as a cultural and educational centre located in the central district of Khanty-Mansiysk, West Siberia. It is an oval two-wing public building with a central atrium and balconies surrounding the atrium. Materials have been kept as simple as possible: concrete, stone, glass and aluminium. The building's primary structural elements are flat floor slabs as horizontal support system, and columns and bearing walls as the vertical support system. Because the Siberian climate and weather is extremely cold during winter, two issues were essential for building design and construction: performance of exterior walls, and cold-weather concreting.