LOOFAH! – The Biodiverse Energy-Surplus Windscraper
Team
Name: Gero SUHNER
Nationality: German
Institution / Company: Gero Suhner, Architect
Name: Wolf STUBBE
Nationality: German
Institution / Company: Wolf Richard Stubbe, 3D-Artist
-FINALIST of Manhattan Wildscraper Competition
Skyscrapers are stacked urban quarters. Urban planning theories could therefore be applied to architecture. LOOFAH!, a 75 floor energy-surplus high-rise, integrating Sponge City Concept and adding environmental as well as socio-economic values to its surrounding.
Rainwater will be collected in the community garden on the rooftop, stored in the roof lake and then drained via microperforated exterior pipes, acting as trellises and irrigation for the green facade. Finally the water can percolate in the areas in front of the building, which are formed as overflow basins in case of heavy rainfall. The proportion of green area (excluding roof) is more than 40%, exceeding the required 20% for green cities, mitigating urban heat islands.
Downwind turbines and photovoltaics, integrated in the circumferential energy ring and as transparent thin-film modules in the glazing, produce energy. In addition to greening high albedo values of the exterior surfaces reduce cooling demand.
Under the community garden is a public indoor botanical garden and below a panoramic restaurant/bar with a public section for brought-in food. Floors 73 to 6 contain apartments and offices. Floors 1 to 5 are co-working spaces for various uses. Ground floor includes public open spaces, an 800m² supermarket and the building entrance.
Image Credit
Background photo for presentation (Hudson Yards, W 30th Street/11th Ave/ W 29th Street): www.architecturaldigest.com, Related/Oxford
#Ecosystem restoration, #Sense of belonging & Placemaking, #Green Roofs & Green Walls, # Urban Parks & Community Gardens, #Air quality & Heat Island Control
