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Green Architecture goes back to nature

A renovated house built around a giant tree is set to give green architecture a whole new meaning. Carlo Ratti Associati architects new ‘Greenary’ project features a giant 10-metre high, 50-year old Ficus tree as its centrepiece.

The tree is growing out of the main living area of the home, with stairs winding to the treetop creating six distinct living spaces, each dedicated to specific uses such as yoga, reading, and music.

The Greenary, scheduled for completion in 2019, is part of CRA’s masterplan for the Mutti Tomato Company, a scheme which aims for closer integration of nature and buildings.

Images sourced from Carlo Ratti Associati architects

Perforated metal and wire mesh: Green architecture living walls

The Greenary project shows just how green architecture is branching out, not just applying to materials sourcing and sustainability but the use of flora and fauna as part of the building envelope.

Living walls and facades are a growing trend as architects look to inject greenery and biodiversity into dense urban areas, using a perforated metal or wire mesh facade.

The Best Tall Building Worldwide award winner, the 190m-high Oasia Hotel Downtown Singapore by WOHA, has over 21 different plant species climbing up its 60 storeys through a striking and contrasting red aluminium wire mesh facade.

Images sourced from WOHA

Another flourishing example we love is Capella Garcia Arquitectura’s Green Side Wall in Barcelona, Spain. Plants grow through a metal mesh style façade, hiding the blank eyesore wall of the residential block that was visible when an adjacent building was demolished.

Images sourced from Capella Garcia Arquitectura

Washed-up: New green architecture materials

And it’s now even possible to use plants as actual building material. In Mexico Omar Vázquez Sánchez, founder of Blue Green plant nursery, has unveiled a home made from the mass of seaweed which regularly washes up on the coast.

Completed in just 15 days, the two-bedroomed home is constructed from a mixture of the coastal plant and adobe, a material which testing has shown is strong enough to withstand even hurricane winds and earthquakes.

Using 50 per cent less materials than a standard social housing unit, it is hoped the project will give lower income households the chance to own their own property.

Images sourced from Arch Daily

Green architecture facades: Arrow Metal

Arrow Metal can help your living wall project to thrive. Talk to us about creating a bespoke or standard profile perforated metal or wire mesh façade. Send us an online enquiry or call our team on (02) 9748 2200. Take a look at our perforated metal projects for to explore our facade capabilities.