U
nique projects such
as these need the
best agronomists
to breath life into
them. Laura Gatti,
the highly respected
Italian agronomist,
worked alongside Stefano Boeri on the
first vertical forest of its kind the Bosco
Verticale brought to life by the Boeri
Studio in Milan.
Gatti was involved from the beginning
in the plant science and planting plans
for the Bosco Verticale and is currently
working on Studio Boeri’s other vertical
woodland projects in China, Switzerland
and Holland. As we move towards 2050
and the frightening statistic that 70% of
the world’s population will dwell in urban
areas and cities there’s no greater need
to address the lungs of our cities be they
horizontal or vertical.
The Bosco Verticale was designed
to increase biodiversity by creating an
attractive space for birds and insects, to
help build a microclimate (which would
enable residents to enjoy the cool shade
of the trees on their balconies) and create
a diverse palate of plants that would help
to absorb CO2 and particles and produce
oxygen while simultaneously providing
protection from the sun and noise pollution.
Ga tti is passionate about her work and
the science that underpins it and says:
“I have made a personal commitment to
green every surface - because it’s down to
us as urban dwellers to solve the problems
we create in the cities.”
The process is complicated and there
are endless check-lists and answers to be
found to multiple client questions too, but
plants and trees are at the heart and the
very start of the process. “We were there
from the very beginning of the design
process and the beginning started with the
INTERNATIONAL
ADVENTURES IN VERTICAL FORESTS
TOWERS COSTS
Tower D: 85 mt
Tower E: 116 mt
Number of floors tower D: 19
Number of floors tower E: 27
Total number of apartments: 113
Tower D: 9.417 sqm
Tower E: 18.717 sqm Average construction cost for sqm: 1.950 euro/sqm
Average sell price for sqm: 9.500/10.000 euro/sqm
Average expenses for maintenance: 63 euro/sqm/year,
including heating, water, irrigation, 24/7 reception, 24/7
security, green area maintanence, cleaning of
facades, CCTV system, and air conditioning
AVERAGE GREENERY FOR EACH
PERSON LIVING IN THE TOWERS:
Trees: 2
Shrubs: 8
Plants: 40
Number of inhabitants planned in both towers: 480
Number of bird species with nest in the towers: 20
BIOVIDERSITY
Number of trees: 700
Number of shrubs: 5.000
Number of climbers and perennial plants:15.000
Number of tree species: 23
Number of plant and herbs species: 94
Technical features SUSTAINABILITY
The Bosco Verticale in the Porta Nuova
Isola area of Milan consists of two
towers of 80 and 112 metres, hosting
480 large and medium trees, 300 small
trees, 15,000 perennial and covering
plants and 5,000 shrubs. The equivalent
- over an urban surface of 1,700 m2 – of
20,000 m2 of forest and undergrowth. Gold LEED certificate
Geothermic heat pumps: 4
Energetic power of solar panels covering the building: 26kWp
Contribution to the reduction of heat loss due to the micro-climate
created by the plants: approx. 2 degrees
Contribution to the reduction of air pollution: transformation of
CO2 into O2, approx. 20,000 kg/year
Total length of perimeter basins: 1,7 mt
Depth of perimeter basins: 1 mt
Type of earth: as specified by the type of greneery
CO2 Absorption: 30 ton /year
O2 Production: 52 kg/day
Surface of forest 20.000 sqm
Maintenance of vegetation
Number of centralised monitoring stations: 2
280 water control systems (one for each terrace)
Yearly maintance check (prunning): 6
4 checks from the inside of the apartments
2 checks from the outside of the apartments
Volume of water for irrigation: 3.500 m3/year
August 2017 | Landscape Insight
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