Australian studio Koichi Takada Architects presented a project for a residential building, which they named Urban Forest. The architects plan to make it “the greenest residential building in the world.” Along with vertical gardening, the project also incorporates other sustainable design principles.
The 30-storey building in Brisbane includes 392 apartments, a two-level rooftop garden, and a public park on the ground floor. Organically shaped columns will fill the park like tree trunks, referencing both traditional Queensland raised dwellings and Le Corbusier’s pillars. 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants representing the local flora will be planted on the stepped façade.
The building is aiming for 6 stars, the highest rating in Australia’s Green Star rating, equivalent to LEED Platinum. The vertical garden will be an active component of the green building. It will increase biodiversity and improve the ecology of the city, as well as protect residents of the house from the sun, wind and rain. Solar panels installed on the building will become a source of renewable energy, and the garden will be watered using collected rainwater and treated wastewater.
The project will use environmentally friendly, high-quality materials that do not require special care. The main structure of Urban Forest is supposed to be made of “green concrete”: the low-carbon version contains 40 percent less Portland cement than regular concrete. Factory-made prefabricated blocks will reduce construction time and the burden on the environment. All timber is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and the stone and brick are locally sourced to simplify logistics, which will also reduce carbon emissions.
“Since the Industrial Revolution, our society has focused on mass production, it’s time to move on to mass gardening. Concrete, steel and glass are cold, hard industrial materials. I call them dead materiality. We need more living materiality, living architecture. 2020 has brought many crises to society and the environment, from the devastating bushfires in Australia to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the lockdown provided an opportunity to pause and rethink reality,” says studio head Koichi Takada.
A visitor center is planned for the Urban Forest, where visitors can learn about both the specific plants on the façade and biodiversity in general. And also get information about the principles of green architecture. Construction is planned to begin in 2021 and be completed in 2024. Developer: Aria Property Group.
