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Architects: Malinowski Design Urban & Landscape
- Area: 800 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Bartłomiej Chęcinski and Dariusz Malinowski
Text description provided by the architects. The garden is the heart of the Olivia Business Center office complex with its area of over 200,000 sq. meters, for nearly 12,000 people. The building is located in the business district of Poland’s Tri-City and is one of the most modern facilities in Poland.
What distinguishes this project is its uncompromising approach to the creation of the right vibe in a natural exotic garden. The result is the hybrid of the Nature Connect concept (human-nature-technology-building) – a space for work and relaxation together with a year-round garden. To achieve this, we have developed new climate control technology – an innovative solution on a European scale: the equivalent of “automatic weather”, controlling the temperature, humidity, sunlight, and air exchange, regardless of changing external climatic conditions and ensuring the well-being of plants and the comfort of garden users. It is the only place where a person can enjoy an exotic landscape without the discomfort often accompanying actually being in the tropics.
The Nature Connect concept assumes that the arrangement of the entire space, built in the right way, can fully reflect the atmosphere of a natural ecosystem, and thereby positively influence the people there. The design has considered the most important details such as noise level, air quality, type of light, and environment. The lively, rich ecosystem of the rainforest has been recreated with great care. The garden has been decorated with plants from Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Madagascar, Venezuela, and the tropical Amazon forests. We have created four zones for users: ‘Dialogue’, ‘Relaxation’, ‘Coworking’ and ‘Food & drink’. A mezzanine, terraces, paths, and ramps have been built between them.
Olivia Garden is the first step towards solutions that help us better understand the relationships between human comfort and nature. By introducing Nature Connect infrastructure, we have created a connection with the atmosphere of nature, bringing a positive effect on the level of commitment, creativity, and interaction between users.
Thanks to the technology and experience of Malinowski Design, similar installations can faithfully reflect almost any part of real tropical ecosystems, with full climate control and concern for the well-being of people. It does not have to be a greenhouse or a pavilion - it can be any vibrant and energetic space where there is a potential for peace. The entire composition consists not only of lush vegetation but also other elements, for example, rainforest. Fallen trees overgrown with moss, rocks entwined with tree roots – these all reflect the natural environment.
A garden without a climate control system would be unbearable for its users. Olivia Garden is a typical greenhouse facility which, according to an analysis carried out by Cundall, can reach temperatures of over 50 Celsius degrees in summer periods without climate control. In winter, the building loses temperature quickly due to the high thermal inertia. The same goes for humidity or sunlight. Heating or cooling alone is not enough to set the right humidity for people, so the technology used in Olivia Garden provides full control over these parameters.
The goal was to create a garden that would serve its users regardless of the time of day or year. The climate control scenario ensures that the temperature in summer and winter constantly fluctuates between 22 and 25°C. The climatic conditions of the garden are run by a climate control system managed by a single computer. This system includes many devices: a heating and cooling unit with a ventilation system, a fogging installation, assimilation lighting, plant irrigation and fertilization system with a nutrient recovery solution, shading curtains, and a mechanism for opening side windows.
