Italian practice Stefano Boeri Architetti has completed the first Chinese Vertical Forest in the city of Huanggang in Hubei province and welcomed its first tenants a few weeks ago.

Named Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex, the new complex, consisting of five towers, two of which are residential and designed as vertical forests, is the first completed vertical forest of the studio in China. 

The studio is known for its many types of vertical forests which incorporate greenery elements through façades or main structural components of design.

Stefano Boeri Architetti's other vertical forests include Bosco Verticale in Milan, a new Vertical Forest in Egypt, Mexico's first Smart Forest City and Albania's first Vertical Forest Tower in Tirana. 

Described as a "new type of Vertical Forest combining open and closed balconies", these balconies interrupt the regularity of the building and create a continuous ever-changing movement, accentuated by the presence of trees and shrubs. 

Thanks to the irregularity of the structure, trees and shrubs are able to develop freely in height while the foliage fits perfectly into the façade design. 

"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," said the architect Stefano Boeri, the founder of Stefano Boeri Architetti. 

"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," he added. 

Encompassing a total of 4.54 hectares (45,400 square meters) area, the complex consists of five towers - two of which are residential and designed as vertical forests. 

The new green complex integrates buildings for residences, hotels and large commercial spaces that are able to meet the daily needs of a number of different individuals, residents and temporary guests, inhabitants and tourists.

The studio explained that "the greenery of the Vertical Forest, selected from local species, is made up of 404 trees (the main trees are Ginkgo biloba, Osmanthus fragrans, Acer griseum, Ligustrum lucidum and Chimonanthus praecox), 4620 shrubs (the main middle shrubs and small shrubs are Hibiscus mutabilis, Elaeagnus pungens, Nandina domestica and  Euonymus alatus), 2408 square metres of perennial grass, flowers and climbing plants like Ophiopogon bodinieri, Sedum lineare and Liriope spicata), which absorb 22 tons/year of Carbon dioxide and produce 11 tons/year of Oxygen."

"The completion of Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is a big step in the practice of Stefano Boeri’s green concept in 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," said Xu Yibo, Partner of Stefano Boeri Architetti China. 

"The Vertical Forest model in residences will fundamentally transform the landscape of future cities and change people's expectations for future ecological life," Yibo added.

"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," said Pietro Chiodi, Project Director of Stefano Boeri Architetti China.

Stefano Boeri Architetti recently released a video documentary of Trudo Tower, the first Vertical Forest in social housing in Eindhoven. The practice completed a new entrance for the Domus Aurea in Rome, Italy.

Project facts

Project name: Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex

Client: Beijing Easyhome Vertical Forest Real Estate Co.,Ltd.

Project: Stefano Boeri Architetti China

Founder & Partner: Stefano Boeri

Partner: Yibo Xu

Project Director: Pietro Chiodi

Project Architect: Huang Yitao

Design Team: Yinxin Bao, Siyu Lei, Lei Cui, Jinye Du, Yifan Fei, Zhiyang Huang，Mohamed Hassan Ali Elgendy, Luca Xu, Liu Juan, Cecilia Picello, Sebastiano Cattiodoro, Linhong Jiang, Jialun Yuan, Mohamed Yasser Elsarif.

Business manager: Palace Gong

Plantation Consultant: Studio Laura Gatti

Structural Design Consultant: Luca Buzzoni, ARUP (Italy)

LDI: Central-South Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd.

Wind test: RWDI

Construction: China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Group Co.,Ltd

Landscape construction: Landscape Architecture Corporation of China Co., Ltd.

Visual: LIFANG (Shanghai) Digital Technologies Co., Ltd. ; Shanghai Skyin Visual Arts Co. Ltd

All images & video © RAW VISION studio

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