stefano boeri architetti plans 'vertical forest city' for huanggang, china

the shanghai office of stefano boeri architetti has designed a ​​4.54 hectare urban development for the city of huanggang in china’s hubei province. titled the ‘easyhome huanggang vertical forest city complex,’ the scheme comprises five towers, two of which are residential and are designed as ‘vertical forests’ — stefano boeri’s model for sustainable residential buildings. the project has been designed as a new green development capable of integrating buildings for residences, hotels, and large commercial spaces. the complex is located in an area bounded by three streets and each of the different functional areas is connected to an open public space.

all images courtesy of stefano boeri architetti

conceived by stefano boeri architetti as an innovative green space for the city, the project has been designed to meet the daily needs of residents, as well as temporary guests and tourists. the architects say that the two residential towers are a new type of ‘vertical forest’ with cantilevered elements that give a sense of movement to the tree-filled façade. the irregular arrangement of the balconies also allows plants to grow freely, enabling the foliage to become an integrated part of the façade.

the other three towers form part of the development’s commercial component. at the ground floors of these structures, the façades are largely clad in vertical and modular elements, again giving continuous movement to the façade. ‘this design choice creates a visual sense of rhythm over the whole external frontage,’ explain the architects. ‘the glazed façade gives the entire complex a more flexible and transparent appearance.’ in order to echo the neighboring residential towers, a large portion of semi-public greenery has been conceived for the business area.

other projects in china by stefano boeri include another vertical forest planned for nanjing and a forest city masterplan, which is currently under construction.

project info:

name: easyhome huanggang vertical forest city complex
location: huanggang, china
client: beijing easyhome vertical forest real estate co., ltd.
architect: stefano boeri architetti china
partners: stefano boeri, yibo xu
principal architect: yibo xu
project director: pietro chiodi
project architect: yitao huang, yinxin bao
design team: siyu lei, lei cui, yifan fei, zhiyang huang, linhong jiang, jialun yuan
landscape design: luojia xu, sebastiano cattiodoro, mohamed yasser elsarif, jinye du
plantation consultant: laura gatti
structural consultant: luca buzzoni, ARUP (italy)
LDI: central-south architectural design institute co., ltd.
wind test: RWDI