Designed by Boeri Studio and developed by Hines, a vertical forest in the heart of one of the Europe's most polluted cities will include two residential towers 110 meters and 76 meters high.
Altogether, 900 trees measuring between 3 meters and 6 meters have been planted, along with 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 floral plants on terraces up to the 27th floor.
The project is set to create a new standard for sustainable housing and was developed with the help of Arup's structural and geotechnical designs, together with consultancy services on acoustics, vibrations, ground-borne noise, and tunnelling. Arup also provided advanced design solutions related to the effects of two existing railway tunnels under the site that required a dedicated design of a base-isolation system for the main buildings.
As a new growth model for the regeneration of the urban environment, the design creates a biological habitat in an area of 40,000 square meters. The designers aim to inspire greater urban biodiversity in the face of Milan's increasing pollution.
Thanks to the huge amount of green area, the building not only optimizes but also produces energy. Besides creating oxygen and humidity, the plants also absorb carbon dioxide and dust particles, which improve the environment.
From compact two-room apartments to penthouses and duplexes, the main characteristics of the flats are the balconies, which extend 3.35 meters outward to host the greenery.
The design also includes photovoltaic energy systems to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers.
“Being part of the design team of such an innovative project presented new challenges every day since the buildings and the structural itself needed to relate to an ever changing environment and new and unusual design inputs had to be thoroughly understood and incorporated in the overall picture,” said Luca Buzzoni, Project Manager, Arup Milan.
The Bosco Verticale building is part of the Porta Nuova Isola complex. This project involves the redevelopment of an area historically dedicated to light industrial and craft activities.
Following the proposal to create Bosco Verticale at the site, 70% of the area had been assigned as a public park. This new residential area includes five main buildings for public, residential and commercial use, and three underground parking levels.
Investors in the project include Coima XXI, Domo Media, Hines European Development Fund. The development will create an new environmental corridor and increase the amount of green space in the city.
Project completion and handover is scheduled for the end of 2014.
DISCOVERY CHANNEL VERTICAL FOREST from Stefano Boeri Architetti on Vimeo.
Related Stories
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 2, 2010
11 Tips for Breathing New Life into Old Office Spaces
A slowdown in new construction has firms focusing on office reconstruction and interior renovations. Three experts from Hixson Architecture Engineering Interiors offer 11 tips for office renovation success. Tip #1: Check the landscaping.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
| Nov 2, 2010
A Look Back at the Navy’s First LEED Gold
Building Design+Construction takes a retrospective tour of a pace-setting LEED project.
| Nov 2, 2010
Wind Power, Windy City-style
Building-integrated wind turbines lend a futuristic look to a parking structure in Chicago’s trendy River North neighborhood. Only time will tell how much power the wind devices will generate.
| Nov 2, 2010
Energy Analysis No Longer a Luxury
Back in the halcyon days of 2006, energy analysis of building design and performance was a luxury. Sure, many forward-thinking AEC firms ran their designs through services such as Autodesk’s Green Building Studio and IES’s Virtual Environment, and some facility managers used Honeywell’s Energy Manager and other monitoring software. Today, however, knowing exactly how much energy your building will produce and use is survival of the fittest as energy costs and green design requirements demand precision.
| Nov 2, 2010
Yudelson: ‘If It Doesn’t Perform, It Can’t Be Green’
Jerry Yudelson, prolific author and veteran green building expert, challenges Building Teams to think big when it comes to controlling energy use and reducing carbon emissions in buildings.
| Nov 1, 2010
Sustainable, mixed-income housing to revitalize community
The $41 million Arlington Grove mixed-use development in St. Louis is viewed as a major step in revitalizing the community. Developed by McCormack Baron Salazar with KAI Design & Build (architect, MEP, GC), the project will add 112 new and renovated mixed-income rental units (market rate, low-income, and public housing) totaling 162,000 sf, plus 5,000 sf of commercial/retail space.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 27, 2010
Grid-neutral education complex to serve students, community
MVE Institutional designed the Downtown Educational Complex in Oakland, Calif., to serve as an educational facility, community center, and grid-neutral green building. The 123,000-sf complex, now under construction on a 5.5-acre site in the city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, will be built in two phases, the first expected to be completed in spring 2012 and the second in fall 2014.
