A New Brisbane Apartment Building Is Set To Be Covered In 20,000 Plants
A radically green residential building is set to continue Brisbane’s impressive glow up and put the city on the global architectural map.
It’s a 30-floor “urban forest” apartment building that would look totally at home in Avatar’s Pandora, but it isn’t proposed for Pandora – it could be gracing the good old Brisvegas skyline.
Renowned architects Koichi Takada are behind the glorious design, a verdant tower cascading with a causal 20,000 plants and 1,000 trees, in a combo of over 250 species native to Queensland.
If built, Urban Forest would be a mixed-use building, including 329 homes – laid out in a staggered level arrangement so that each apartment gets its very own verandah-style balcony – along with a two-level private rooftop garden, a public park at ground level and a tourism centre with biodiversity education.
Studio Founder Koichi Takada wants greener architecture that moves away from mass production and toward sustainability to be a fixture in design thinking moving forward, especially considering the pandemic.
“Post Covid-19, I think it’s a great opportunity to pause and rethink and not just adapt, but shift the paradigm from industrial to natural,” Takada tells Dezeen.
He explains that materials like concrete, steel and glass are “very hard and solid industrial materials” that you could actually term ‘dead’. Instead, he wants us to embrace living materiality and living architecture.
“One take away from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is the realisation that we are all living things. We are here to live, not defy death in some way. Our architecture should do the same.”
The building materials will include low-carbon concrete, recycled or locally sourced stone and brick elements, and all the timber used will be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. The design is also set to maximise the amount of natural light and ventilation in the building, meaning less power needs. It’s straight up genius.
The base of the building is a super cool homage to tree trunks, their organic columns also referencing the raised tradition of Queenslander homes. The space will fill with dappled light.
Construction is due to start in 2021 and complete in 2024 and dear God, let’s hope this goes through.
(All Images: Provided / Koichi Takada Architects)
