Foster and Partners’ Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana, Kazakhstan is marked today at an official ceremony

Opened in time for the triennial Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, the 62m high pyramid was designed and realised in less than two years. This was achieved despite the Astanian climate which has an annual range from 30°c in summer to -30°c in winter. Located on a prominent site in the capital’s new administrative centre, the building occupies a significant place on the axial route from the Presidential Palace. Clad in a lattice of stainless steel with pale grey granite triangular inserts, the building will accommodate a permanent venue for the Congress, and houses a 1,500- seat opera house, a university faculty, meeting spaces and a national spiritual centre. This programmatic diversity is unified within the pure form of a pyramid. The building’s apex is clad in stained glass designed by the artist Brian Clarke. The design features images of doves, the internationally recognised symbol of peace.