VERTICAL FOREST IN SWITZERLAND
11 Nov 2015
A competition to create the world’s second ‘vertical forest’ has been won by Stefan Boeri Architects. This forested tower will feature hundreds of cedar trees, creating a forest in the sky.
Stefano Boeri Architects ‘vertical forest’ design will soon become a fixture of the Swiss skyline in Lausanne. As the winning design in a competition to create a residential tower in the city of Chavannes-Près-Renens, Stefano Boeri’s plan features hundreds of trees and shrubs that will serve as a sustainable building that contributes to urban biodiversity.
Set to contribute to the regeneration of the environment, the new 117m tower, known as La Tour des Cedres (Tower of Cedars), will filter air pollution, produce oxygen and protect against the urban heat island effect.
When complete, the new La Tour des Cedres tower will add 3000sqm of greenery to the façade of the building, consisting largely of cedar trees that will be placed on the irregularly jutting balconies of the structure. In theory, the greenery placement will work to regular the building’s internal temperate and provide soundproofing for each apartment, as well as creating a ‘forest-like’ effect from the interior perspective.
The ‘vertical forest’ is not a new concept for Stefano Boeri. Their Bosco Verticale tower was completed in Milan in 2014. The Milan project was comprised of two towers that host around 900 trees, each measuring 3, 6 or 9 meters tall, and over 2000 plants from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants.
Beating out a shortlist of design finalists from architects around the world, La Tour des Cedres will begin construction in 2017.
