Foster + Partners Unveils Twin Towers Joined by Garden Bridges for Yerevan

Foster + Partners has designed two skyscrapers linked by three garden bridges for World Trade Center Yerevan, a new development set to be built in the Armenian capital. The British studio plans one tower for offices and the other for apartments and a hotel.

The connecting elements are the project's signature move. Enclosed bridges between the towers will hold amenities shared by occupants of both buildings, including landscaped terraces. The skyscrapers themselves will wear glazed facades over a concrete structural frame with steel bracing and a split core — a combination that allows open, flexible interior spaces.

How the towers meet the city

The towers will be angled toward landmarks: the National Assembly of Armenia, the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Mount Ararat. Low-rise buildings at the base will contain entertainment, hospitality and shopping spaces arranged around a public square.

"Our new development is in close dialogue with the country's history and culture," said Foster + Partners senior partner Niall Dempsey. "The low-rise buildings seamlessly stitch into the wider urban fabric, while the towers are elevated above ground level, freeing up 50 per cent of the site and making an important contribution to the life of the city."

The scheme stands in a district masterplanned in 1924 by Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian, who wanted to turn Yerevan into a garden city. The central green axis of a nearby park will be extended to form a route leading to a podium at the base of the skyscrapers, and the public spaces are intended to reference the area's architectural heritage.

Partner Juan Frigerio framed the design as a negotiation between eras. "Our scheme celebrates the outdoor life of the city by connecting the urban fabric with public spaces, ensuring our new interventions work in harmony with the historic grain," he said. "To the north of the towers, the events plaza responds to the significant St John the Baptist Church and its forecourt, creating a seamless connection between old and new."

What does this change for Yerevan?

For a city better known for its Soviet-era pink tuff architecture than for vertical development, the project signals an ambition to compete as a business destination under the World Trade Center brand. The decision to lift the towers and release half the site as public space directly addresses the usual criticism of trade-centre developments — that they wall themselves off from street life.

The commission also extends a busy run for the London practice. Foster + Partners recently unveiled updated plans for the Two World Trade Center skyscraper in New York and a masterplan to transform the area surrounding an airport near Luanda, Angola. With World Trade Center Yerevan, the studio now carries its tower-and-plinth formula into the South Caucasus, and the city will learn whether Tamanian's garden-city ideal can survive a pair of skyscrapers planted on top of it.