Saturday 9 May 2020

German architects deliver ‘Europe’s largest green facade’

A German architecture firm has unveiled the building claimed to feature the 'Europe's largest greenest facade', made up of eight kilometres of hornbeam hedges and more than 30,000 plants.

Ingenhoven Architects have worked on a five-storey office block in Düsseldorf with the goal of making a building that represents the 'urban response to climate change'.

The architecture company has worked with Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin to develop a comprehensive 'phytotechnological concept' and incorporate the hedges into the building design to provide climate solutions.

The architects suggest the hornbeam was intentionally selected as a native species that keeps its leaves in winter and predict the ecological benefit of the hedges will be equivalent to that of approximately 80 fully grown trees.

It says the greenery also improves the city’s microclimate by protecting against the sun’s rays in summer and reducing urban heat, binding carbon dioxide, storing moisture and supporting biodiversity.