Proposed plant-covered social housing tower in Eindhoven , Trudo Vertical Forest by Italian architect Stefano Boeri has reached completion. The 70metres tall housing block is surrounded by balconies housing over 10,000 plants and 125 affordable social housing units.
Stefano Boeri Architetti partner Francesca Cesa Bianchi said: “The Eindhoven social housing tower establishes the possibility of combating both climate change and resolving the problem of housing through interpreting the idea of urban forestation. Not only as a necessity in order to improve the environments in cities around the world, but also a great opportunity to improve the living conditions of poorer citizens”
Trudo Vertical Forest is wrapped in white concrete horizontal bands that envelop the building between strips of solar-reflective glazing. From the horizontal concrete bands, staggered planter balconies were extruded at different widths, heights and depths. These balconies support 10,135 plants, shrubs and trees. The extruded planter balconies house the vertical forest and were fitted with sensors that monitor the hydration and nutrition levels of the soil.
Cesa Bianchi said: “The use of latest generation construction technologies, the rationalisation of certain technical solutions for the facades and more generally, the optimisation of resources related to the project and the construction of the building allowed to achieve the goal to realise a Vertical Forest especially intended to accommodate low-income users and young couples. The materials chosen such as concrete and prefabricated components ensured cost containment in a strategy consistent with the inner nature of social housing. The design itself focused on finding the best performing solution, which could provide the right balance between aesthetic and economic objectives.”
According to the studio, each year the vertical forest will absorb over 50 tonnes of CO2 and over 13 tonnes of oxygen.
The practice added solar panels to the roofs of adjacent buildings in order to produce some of the energy consumed by the tower, while a reservoir-cum-rainwater collection system was installed to irrigate the planting. Each of the 50-square-metre apartments has reconfigurable space with ceiling heights of at least 3.5 metres. Every apartment has its own balcony fitted with green boxes that contain a single tree and 20 bushes.
