Smog-eating ‘vertical forest tower’ in Netherlands will feature luxury apartments and 300 plant species
Stefano Boeri Architetti is building a smog-eating 'vertical forest tower' in Utrecht, which will feature luxury apartments and 300 species of plants
A smog-eating tower will soon go up in the Netherlands city of Utrecht.
On the outside, 10,000 trees and shrubs — nearly half the amount found in New York’s Central Park — will fill the skyscraper’s facade, roof, and balconies. Inside, it will feature 200 luxury apartment units, restaurants, a fitness centre, and offices.
Called the Utrecht Vertical Forest, the 300-foot-tall tower will host around 30 different plant species. The plants will absorb 5.4 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year — the equivalent of about one car, according to designers from Italian architecture firm Stefano Boeri Architetti. In addition, the company said the tower will produce about 41,400 tons of oxygen annually, roughly the same as what 2.5 acres of forest generates.
The mixed-use building is being billed as the “new healthy centre of Utrecht,” since the plan calls for healthy eateries, a gym with yoga studios, bike parking, and a small public park. The Vertical Forest Hub, a new research centre on urban forestation, will also have offices on the ground floor.