Designs by Italian architect Stefano Boeri for a verdant mixed-use tower have been given the green light by officials in Lausanne, Switzerland, Gizmag reports.
Office spaces, luxury apartments, and a 53,819-sf retail center will comprise the 36-floor structure, which renderings depict as a tower stacked Jenga style with white rectangular units and patches of green trees and shrubbery strewn throughout.
Dubbed La Tour des Cedres (or Cedar Trees Tower), the architect says the green design will be boosted by other sustainable technology, such as solar power and rainwater collection. Among the plants will be 100 of the tower’s namesake plant, cedar trees, 6,000 shrubs, and 18,000 other plants, most of them native to the area. Together, the plants will make up more than 32,200 sf of greenery.
The cantilevered concrete planters and loggia are being engineered by BuroHappold “as prefabricated units that connect directly to the tower’s reinforced concrete frame,” Gizmag reports.
But green architecture writer and critic Lloyd Alter of TreeHugger argues that the amount of reinforced concrete needed to accomplish Boeri’s design may cancel out all the other conservation and sustainability endeavors of the building.
“Trees, and the soil they need to survive and grow, are heavy, and it takes a lot of reinforced concrete to support them on these cantilevered balconies. Concrete is responsible for 5 to 7 percent of the carbon dioxide we produce, so the responsible and sustainable thing is to use less of it,” Alter writes. “Without an analysis of how much concrete is needed to support these trees, [versus] how much CO2 the trees absorb, you can't call this sustainable design.”
According to DesignBoom, La Tour des Cedres is due to begin construction in 2017.
Related Stories
Hotel Facilities | Apr 29, 2015
OMA unveils design for the Netherlands' largest hotel
Once completed, and if approved, the structure will add three stacked cubes to the Amsterdam skyline.
High-rise Construction | Apr 23, 2015
Size matters in NYC, where several projects vie for the city’s tallest building honor
The latest renderings of 217 West 57th Street show a tower that would rise higher than the World Trade Center’s pinnacle, when elevations are included.
High-rise Construction | Apr 22, 2015
Architects propose sustainable ‘vertical city’ in the Sahara
Designers aim to make the 1,476-foot tower sustainable, relying on rainwater collection, solar power, and geothermal energy.
Hotel Facilities | Apr 13, 2015
Figure-eight shaped hotel to open around PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Facility
Just three miles away from the Olympic stadiums, the hotel will be a hub of its own.
Mixed-Use | Apr 7, 2015
$100 billion 'city from scratch' taking shape in Saudi Arabia
The new King Abdullah Economic City was conceived to diversify the kingdom's oil-dependent economy by focusing more in its shipping industry.
High-rise Construction | Mar 24, 2015
Timber high-rise residential complex will tower over Stockholm waterfront
The four towers, 20 stories each, will be made entirely out of Swedish pine, from frame to façade.
Mixed-Use | Mar 13, 2015
Dubai announces mega waterfront development Aladdin City
Planned on 4,000 acres in the Dubai Creek area, the towers will be covered in gold lattice and connected via air-conditioned bridges.
High-rise Construction | Mar 11, 2015
Must see: Firm proposes skyscraper with a ‘twist’ in downtown Tulsa
Tulsa, Okla.-based architecture practice Kinslow, Keith & Todd released renderings of a skyscraper concept that takes the shape of a tornado.
Modular Building | Mar 10, 2015
Must see: 57-story modular skyscraper was completed in 19 days
After erecting the mega prefab tower in Changsha, China, modular builder BSB stated, “three floors in a day is China’s new normal.”
Transit Facilities | Mar 4, 2015
5+design looks to mountains for Chinese transport hub design
The complex, Diamond Hill, will feature sloping rooflines and a mountain-like silhouette inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings.
