Europe’s Largest Green Facade Building

In effort to educate ourselves on the newest technology in our industry, we like to seek out the latest ideas in Building Envelope Design. Check out this cool design in Germany:

Nearly 30,000 hornbeam hedges form the “cladding” for Kö-Bogen II, a new building in Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz (plaza), Düsseldorf, Germany. Ingenhoven Architects, the project’s designer, said they didn’t want the new structure to compete with the existing buildings in the plaza, so it had to be completely different.

Beneath the greenery lies 450,000 sq. ft. of office and retail space. The building itself is reinforced concrete. The shrubs are housed in metal panels, each 18 x 40 in., with access cages on rails to allow maintenance of the plants.

— Architectural Record