Vertical garden meets residential accommodation in the new Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex in Huanggang, Hubei province, China. Stefano Boeri Architetti China is behind the design, which has just welcomed its first tenants. It continues the Italian architect and Salone del Mobile 2021 curator Boeri’s exploration of the Bosco Verticale (vertical forest) concept of sustainable architecture. His award-winning, first, Milanese iteration, named the world’s 2015 Best Tall Building, has already welcomed residents in apartments and penthouses.
Of the new Huanggang complex, Boeri says: ‘The design allows an excellent view of the tree-lined façades, enhancing the sensorial experience of the greenery and integrating the plant landscape with the architectural dimension. Thus, the inhabitants of the residential towers have the opportunity to experience the urban space from a different perspective while fully enjoying the comfort of being surrounded by nature.’
Vertical Forest is greening the urban landscape
The new project features both open and closed balconies, which brings a sense of movement to a design constantly in flux thanks to the developing nature of the foliage. Composed of five towers – two designated for residential use and the rest for hotels and commercial spaces – the complex incorporates greenery selected from local species. Vegetation spanning 404 trees, 4,620 shrubs and 2,408 sq m of grass, flowers and climbing plants should absorb 22 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, while producing 11 tonnes a year of oxygen.
‘The completion of Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is a big step in the practice of Stefano Boeri’s green concept in China,’ says Xu Yibo, partner of Stefano Boeri Architetti China. ‘This project represents very comforting news for all of us: we hope that one day everyone will have the chance to live close to nature in their own private area rather than just in public buildings. The Vertical Forest model in residences will fundamentally transform the landscape of future cities and change people's expectations for future ecological life.’
Adds Pietro Chiodi, project director of Stefano Boeri Architetti China: ‘The first Vertical Forest built in China has a double meaning: for us, it opens a new architectural typology – with extruded volumes fitting among the trees – while for Huanggang it may trigger an overall process of regeneration and redevelopment of the urban context.’
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