Trudo Vertical Forest applies the Vertical Forest model to social housing for the first time. Designed to accommodate mainly low-income users, the tower in Eindhoven houses flats with low rents but high living quality. The complex vision of “living” coexistence between man and other species is thus amplified in the project into a dual challenge: the possibility of combining the great challenge of the environmental crisis with the urgent need for affordable housing in contemporary cities.
Cross-border/international
Netherlands
Italy
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{Empty}
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2021-09-30
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Stefano Boeri Architetti Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Stefano Last name of representative: Boeri Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: Founding Partner Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via G. Donizetti 4, Milan IT Town: Milan Postal code: 20122 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 02 5501 4101 E-mail:comunicazione@stefanoboeriarchitetti.net Website:https://stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/
The Trudo Vertical Forest, part of the urban renewal plan for ‘Strijp-S’ – a recovery and development plan involving the area formerly belonging to the Philips electronics company, a crucial identity presence in the area, once completely closed to the city but now becoming a new creative hub in Eindhoven – generates a new green habitat for the development of biodiversity within the metropolitan environment, a true ecosystem nourished by the coexistence of more than 70 different plant species, capable of combating atmospheric pollution, absorbing CO2 and fine dust particles, developing the model first experimented in Milan and now in the Netherlands into an expression of a new design paradigm, in which vegetation and living nature are considered as constituent – and no longer merely ornamental – elements of architectural language.
The building designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti accommodates 125 social housing units on 19 floors, flexible to meet future needs and capable of defining new housing standards for the sector. Each flat has a limited surface area calibrated to the type of users for whom it is intended (less than 50 square metres), while having the spatial extension offered by terraces of more than 4 square metres and the natural micro-environment formed by the presence on each of 1 tree and 20 bushes. All in all, the Trudo Vertical Forest residential tower houses no less than 135 trees of various species on its four façades, spread over an elevation of 75 metres, to which will be added about 5.200 smaller shrubs and plants and other vegetation, for a total of about 8.500 plants.
The building’s green facades provide an impactful solution to the heat island effect.
biodiversity
social housing
vertical forest
urban forestry
sustainability
The Trudo Tower thus becomes an instrument of social inclusion, acting at the same time as a model for urban forestry, reconnecting people with living nature, and as a new solution for the city of the future. It will be necessary, in fact, to rethink our role as the predominant species in order to embrace the idea of an architecture of biodiversity which supports a variety of living species, not just the human one, as a dowel of a broader idea of urban forestation where the cohabitation between people, flora and fauna in enhanced and necessary for the mitigation of climate change and the sustainability of all specie.
Under a technical point of view, the presence of the vegetation is a truly useful tool for natural cost reduction: the reduction of the heat island effect and the cooling effect of the trees is really perceptible, and the water vapors produced by the plants extracts heat from the surrounding environment, greatly reducing the need for mechanical air conditioning. In addition, the vegetation acts as a filter on the balconies, resulting in a reduction between the indoor and outdoor temperature in summer and lowering the temperature on the external façade, with a significant saving in energy consumption. Finally, the land consumption is minimized, using the typology of the tower to touch as little of the ground as possible and allow citizens the freedom to experience the city. The same intuition regards the greenery: in a 24x24 meter square are housed more than 8.000 plants, bringing an actual forest, with all its benefits, in the space of a building. Moreover, the water system is conceived as circular: rainwater is collected and stored in 4 tanks of 20.000 liters under the building and reused for irrigation of the various pots.
The building's green facades, wrapped in white concrete horizontal bands that envelop the building between strips of solar-reflective glazing, are not only a relief from the monotony of concrete and steel, but provide an impactful solution from the heat island effect.
The costs of the building have been reduced thanks to the prefabrication and the Value Engineering principles, which means achieving the same aesthetically appealing results with a substantial reduction of costs through a careful material selection, done during the design process. The structure of the building was designed, from the first phase, to accommodate vegetation and at the same time to reduce the cost: for instance, for the columns on the perimeter the structural span was reduced to 3,9 mt. Like the structure, the facade have been specifically designed to save costs as well as through the modularity of their components. The building's green facades are not only a relief from the monotony of concrete and steel, but provide an impactful solution from the heat island effect. Together with a thoughtful choice of material – such as mainly precast concrete, with a white finish in order to create a connection with the iconic context – and construction technologies, mainly prefabrication – exploiting the combination of six types of pots, specifically designed to accommodate different plants – and modularity, it was possible to achieve variation in the design, as well as saving in costs and construction time.
The design choices introduced in the Trudo Vertical Forest are mainly aimed at lowering construction and maintenance costs, meeting the needs of the social housing typology, thanks to the use of prefabrication construction technologies and more generally the optimisation of resources related to the design and construction of the building. In particular, the main structure is made up of prefabricated concrete modules and in-situ machined elements, while the design of the green façade exploits the combination of six types of pots, different in size and shape, specifically designed to house different plants, which allow for a great variety in design, as well as a significant reduction in costs and construction time.
The Trudo Vertical Forest represents the achievement of a real milestone: by making the Vertical Forest typology accessible to everyone, even low-income tenants, the project demonstrates that living in contact with trees and greenery is not an exclusive prerogative, but can indeed become a viable choice for citizens with very different economic backgrounds. For instance, the building hosts students, young couples and professionals that had the chance of customizing common spaces in the building, open to all the citizens. The Trudo Vertical Forest succeeds in guaranteeing high quality, due to the flexibility of the interior spaces and their relationship to open spaces, in a building with a significantly reduced construction cost. The project does not only modify the urban landscape, but aims to define new housing standards for social housing and thus respond to environmental and housing issues.
The benefits provided by the project vary and include many aspects. First of all, in relation to the context, the Trudo Tower becomes an attractor for humans but also for plants and animal species, revitalizing in a modern way a historic and today very vibrant district of the Dutch city.
The greatest improvements, however, regard the overall livability: both the neighborhood and, above all, the users of the tower, experience an enrichment in terms of climate, environment and air quality, due to the presence of the vegetation. Moreover, the greenery, entering as a protagonist in the apartments of Trudo Vertical Forest, becomes a completely new element with regard to the type of social housing proposed in the project, elevating the building to an intervention for the community in all respects. Inclusion, biodiversity, attention to the context and the users, are combined in a building designed to be an icon of the new Eindhoven, an example of urban forestation and architectural design of the future.
Finally, the benefits related to the design choices are not to be underestimated: the cost reduction resulting from the technologies and design solutions, such as rainwater recycling, balcony modularity and positioning, and prefabrication, shows how the study did not stop at the design and execution phases, but considered the future maintenance and sustenance of the building.
The Trudo Tower reaches many goals, and opens up many possibilities regarding the conjugations of the Vertical Forest model in Europe and in the world, proving that it is possible to think about a different and sustainable architecture, alive and lively, rich in personal and natural exchanges with different species of flora and fauna, even in different climatic and social contexts than the first Milanese example. The educational aspect, in fact, is to be taken into account.
With a constant focus on the geopolitical and environmental implications of urban phenomena, Stefano Boeri Architetti develops architectural and regeneration projects in complex environments and on different continents, promoting and strengthening synergies between all the different public and private players involved in development. This integrated and multidisciplinary approach has allowed Stefano Boeri Architetti to acquire a strongly defined identity and to become a reference point for sustainable architecture, social housing and strategic urban development at different scales,both in Italy and internationally.
In Huanggang (China), where the innovation was to combine the needs of the local market with the traditional residence, to radically change the urban landscape for a future sustainable city, in a place where the main problem is pollution; in Antwerp, where from the study of the relation of the balconies with the interiors and with the surrounding, it was possible to create the greenest building in Belgium; or in Lausanne, where, due to the climatic conditions and the need to optimize the light entering the apartments, the Tower incorporates a system of vases in the loggias, so that the greenery is flush with the floor of the terraces and the view untouched. The combinations and improvements are ideally endless, but the objective is the same: increasing as much as possible the connectivity among forests, gardens and parks, creating ecological corridors whose environmental benefits go far beyond the simple design, in an urban forestry strategy that should represent a shifting perspective on the city scape, the representation of the ultimate blend between the plant world and architecture.
For the design aspects of the plant component of the Trudo Vertical Forest, Stefano Boeri Architetti used the technical advice of a team of experts and botanists.
In particular, the main structure and the balconies consist of precast concrete modules and elements processed in situ, with all the necessary provisions for installations, drainage and tree safety devices, while the design of the green façade exploits the combination of six types of pots, different in size and shape, specifically designed and combined to accommodate different plants – for example, the pot measuring 2,80 x 2,07 mt is specifically designed for a medium – sized tree. The combination of a limited number of modules allows great variety in the design of the façade, as well as an important cost reduction. Therefore, the result is a wide range of relationships between inside and outside, changing the way each apartment faces the outdoor and the vegetation.
The Milan Vertical Forest in this perspective was a great “school”, because it provided the opportunity to experiment with solutions that were then adopted, with a high degree of precision and high know-how; and in Eindhoven a step forward was made in order to achieve the possibility of counteract climate change together with housing shortage. It will be necessary, in fact, to rethink our role as the predominant species in order to embrace the idea of an architecture of biodiversity which supports a variety of living species, not just the human one, as a dowel of a broader idea of urban forestation where the cohabitation between people, flora and fauna in enhanced and necessary for the mitigation of climate change and the sustainability of all species.
For the design aspects of the plant component of the Trudo Vertical Forest, Stefano Boeri Architetti used the technical advice of a team of experts and botanists, who in this case worked closely with the firm DuPré Groenprojecten in Helmond and the nursery Van den Berk in Sint-Oedenrode. The maintenance of the entire complex, including the plants, is collective and managed directly by the client Sint Trudo.
Overall, the residential tower of Trudo Vertical Forest hosts on the whole of its four facades, developed for an altitude of 75 meters, as many as 135 trees from 70 different species, to which will be added about 5.200 shrubs and smaller plants and other vegetation, for a total of about 8.500 plants, able to reduce air pollution, absorb 50 tons of carbon dioxide and producing 14 tons of oxygen each year, creating a green habitat that enhances biodiversity. The building hosts in 19 floors 125 units dedicated to low-income citizens, flexible in order to meet future needs and able to define new housing standards for the sector. Each apartment has a limited size (less than 50 sqm) and it is adjusted on the type of users to which it is intended, but presents a spatial extension obtainable with the terraces measuring more than 4 sqm and with a micro natural environment formed by the presence of 1 tree and 20 bushes on each one, connecting nature with the users, with all the ecological advantages that this choice brings to the life of the tenants in the form of shading, clear air and environmental and energetic benefits.
The Trudo Vertical Forest’s innovations cover various fields. First of all, they concern the architectural aspect, with the creation of a building, up to this point associated only with one type of users, now entirely dedicated to social housing and totally affordable.
A technological innovation is associated to this aspect, linked to the choices made during the design phases aimed at economic and time savings during construction and completion, such as prefabrication of the main structure – with precast concrete –, modularity of the facades – with a small number of pot modules –, circular irrigation system and natural energetic savings thanks to the presence of a strong number of trees, plants and shrubs in the balconies on the elevations. In this regard, the experience of Milan Vertical Forest was extremely useful to acquire a know-how and to help innovating an architectural design that is shaped by the presence of the vegetation. The shape, size and various heights of the balconies are designed starting from the choices of native plants – in this case including Field maple, Cornus mas, Parrotia persica and prunus, with a maximum height estimated at around 6,5 mt. – elevating the vegetation to founding element of architecture.
With the Trudo Vertical Tower, the goal achieved of building a vertical forest dedicated to social housing, can be included in a broader topic of improvement of the typology in a perspective of urban forestation that spreads in the future vision of the city. Experimenting with this type of architecture, the design will be enriched with useful data and experiences to improve and move forward towards the acceptance of nature firstly as a protagonist of architecture and urban planning, as well as an effective counteraction to climate change and energy consumption towards a better quality of life.
One major scope of the building is to accommodate vegetation and at the same time to reduce the costs. Therefore, the project undergoes and implements technical solutions with an innovative approach. Starting from the main structure of the building, it was combined with precast modules and in-situ concrete elements, including a reduction of the span for the columns on the perimeter to 3,9 mt. In order to house the trees, the balconies, prefabricated and implemented with all the necessary provisions for drainage and tree safety, overhang for 3 mt (maximum cantilever). For the pots, combined with just six different sizes modules, three connection systems were also designed: the main solution directly placed on the balcony floor; for smaller pots, steel profiles underneath the slab support the precast planters; while the pot flush with the balcony flooring presents a specific joint through steel bars embedded in the concrete.
The building plan is a square of 24 x 24 mt. In order to dedicate the majority of the space to the users, it is divided into 9 squares, the central one for vertical circulation, while the others accommodate 50 sqm apartments. All the spaces have been designed following the criterion of flexibility, to guarantee the possibility of a future combination of two (or more) housing units.
Another implementation can be seen regarding the educational implications that an example of this kind can bring from the point of view of collective improvement and knowledge, with the possibility of establishing a coherent approach - as in the example of the book Green Obsession - towards a sustainable architecture.
The studies and the technologies conducted in this project are an important step in a wider vision regarding the role that sustainable architecture and, in particular, Vertical Forests can play in order to improve the quality of life, fight climate change and give back to nature the space it deserves, improving our relationship with it.
The Vertical Forest provides a model of combination between the urban and the natural world that can be adapted to different environmental conditions according to the local climatic zones. In particular the research is focusing on the study of the environment and species suitable for dry and tropical climates – for example North Africa or the Middle East. Each zone, in fact, provides a set of local criteria to adapt the prototype to the local conditions. The main differences in the design may include the choices of trees, selected in order to better adapt to the local climate; the design of the facades, always improving the relation between architecture and nature; the functions and the targets – with the example of Eindhoven. Every Vertical Forest, starting from the first prototype in Milan, is a step forward on the research and the improving of the technique.
The social value of the intervention should be measured in terms of urban impact and, in a broader sense, in the global scenario of cultural and symbolic values and visions related to architectural design. The Trudo Tower is inserted in the context of the “Strijp-S”, an area formerly belonging to the Philips electronics company. This industrial neighborhood, born from the agglomeration of factories, became iconic in the cityscape after WWII, welcoming about 10.000 workers every day (the highest number reached in the 1970s), but it was surrounded by fences and barriers, completely inaccessible by the citizens. The area was therefore called the "Forbidden City". With the Trudo Tower the aim is to maintain the iconic character, with a new vocation: to include citizens of all social categories, also welcoming nature, in a tower of intermingling of species, a beacon of biodiversity, generating within the metropolitan environment of Eindhoven a real ecosystem fed by the coexistence of different species. The joint interaction between man-tree and architecture-tree makes the model experimented for the first time in Milan and arrived today in the Netherlands the expression of a new design paradigm, in which vegetation and living nature are considered constituent elements - and no longer just ornamental - of the architectural language.
The challenge of the project was based on the idea to propose the Milan Vertical Forest prototype but with a lower cost of construction, in order to make it accessible for social housing, and to create also a relationship with the historical context through particular design choices: the white concrete finish for the facades, for example, is linked to the will of connecting the new project with the white industrial buildings of the former Philips factory. Therefore, on the one hand, the idea was to establish a dialogue with the site; on the other hand, the selection of the neutral color helps to highlight the green plants and trees.
