Warsaw-based FAAB studio envisioned a mixed-use development that enhances its own environment, while involving its inhabitants in the process. In fact, the prototype architectural intervention aims to give tools for people to control and manage the changing climate.
Involved in projects in Poland and worldwide, FAAB studio created a building that responds to a new type of urbanity, where technology and biotechnology will help people “have the habitat they need and like to have”. Imagined in a dense fabric, the structure will accommodate a multitude of functions including retail, office, hotel, and residential spaces.
With basic features like “harvesting electricity from the sun, lowering the building's energy demand, and the geometry of the facade creating shade where needed”, the Vertical Green Oasis Building is a prototype structure that aims to adapt to its context and achieve eco-goals. Setting new standards for sustainable design, the development’s main goal is to “change the environment in the vicinity of the building while making inhabitants of the building involved in the process”.
Regarding the external envelope, each of the components is an essential part of the whole system. In fact, the white opaque parts of the facade or the BIPV active panels and the glazing are responsible for the production of electricity, harvested from the sun. Multifunctional VOS WCC modular panels in the vertical gardens are in charge of changing the environment in the vicinity of the building. With support from selected plants and microorganisms, the air is purified and noise pollution is reduced.
Moreover, “the green layer is an amplifier of the bio-diversity, it helps to preserve species threatened by extinction”. A mobile application was developed within the project to uncover the status of the system for each plant in the matrix, with capabilities of self-improvement. Designed specifically to withstand harsh weather conditions, the green layer reduces the demand of the building for colder spaces up to 66% (in the Arabian Gulf region), and heat by 30% (in Sweden).
- Name: Vertical Oasis Building
- Function: Retail, office, hotel, residential, parking structure
- Total (NRA): 123 170 sqm
- Retail: 37 744 sqm
- Office: 23 792 sqm
- Leisure area/spa/water park: 5 668 sqm
- Gastronomy: 5 583 sqm
- Hotel: 19 758 sqm
- Residential: 30 642 sqm
- Roofpark Oasis: 712 sqm
- Total height of the building: 220 m
- Total no. of above-ground levels: 53
- Total no. of below-ground levels: 4
- Total area: 181 975 sqm