Urban Forest, a 30-story mixed-use residential high-rise is the latest development designed by Koichi Takada Architects. Located in South Brisbane, Australia, the building features one of the world’s most densely-forested vertical gardens, going beyond regular green buildings norms and achieving “300% site cover with living greenery, featuring 1000 plus trees and more than 20,000 plants selected from 259 native species”. Increasing biodiversity and reducing the ecological footprint, the structure highlights another stage in the evolution of the architectural vertical garden.
Submitted for planning approval, the Urban Forest project is part of a new global movement of Vertical planting in high-rise buildings. Bringing greenery, biodiversity, oxygen, and mental health benefits back to high-density city living, the intervention will hold “more than five times the number of trees found in nearby Musgrave Park”. In fact, the landscape takes on a dynamic position, becoming an essential component of the design. Including 382 apartments, a two-story rooftop with garden and residential amenities, and an open public park on the ground level, “Urban Forest is probably the greenest we can design with the current “greening” tools and regulations available to us”, according to Koichi Takada.
