12 Game-Changing Urban Design Ideas Every City Needs Right Now

https://streetartutopia.com/2025/04/10/12-game-changing-urban-design-ideas-every-city-needs-right-now/

#GreenWalls Can Strip #Pollution from Air, Some #Plants Do It Better than Others https://www.sci.news/biology/green-wall-plants-12741.html

The interplay between particulate matter capture, wash-off, and leaf traits in green wall species https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724010891

"this depends on the shape of leaves and on the micromorphological properties of their surfaces... The evergreen #candytuft and #ivy were especially good at trapping particles. Meanwhile, rain was able to wash most of the pollution off the hairy leaves of #lavender."

Cactus flowers

#greenwalls #kailua #kailuabeach #hawaii

A new farm has been opened in Compton, California. Plenty Compton Farm is an indoor structure that generates up to 350x the yield of a conventional farm per acre using 'living walls' of salad plants. Each wall is nearly two stories high, allowing them to produce 4.5m lbs of greens annually.

#GoodNews #Farming #Indoor #GreenWalls #Water #Energy #California #Food #Salad #Efficiency

https://www.futurefoodproduction.com/post/plenty-opens-worlds-most-technologically-advanced-indoor-vertical-farm-in-compton

#Hausbegrünung

#Garten #gardening #greenCity #greenWalls
#natureEveryWhere
#Mühlenbeckia
#Fassadenbegrünung

TEF Design creates living wall for net-zero Larkin Street Substation in San Francisco

A lush green wall and back-lit fibreglass panels are found on the exterior of an electrical substation extension that was designed by TEF Design to achieve net-zero energy consumption.

Owned by the utility company Pacific Gas and Electric, the Larkin Street Substation Expansion is located on a mid-block site in the city's Tenderloin neighbourhood. It adjoins a concrete structure built in 1962 to supply power to the northeastern part of San Francisco.

Larkin Street Substation Expansion is in San Francisco

For the constrained site, local firm TEF Design conceived a two-storey addition that totals 12,200 square feet (1,133 square metres). The extension rises 50 feet (15 metres) at its highest point.

"The constrained property and need to accommodate crane and equipment lift access prescribed the expansion's perpendicular orientation to the existing substation," the firm said.

Its architects say the substation is the first of its kind in the US to aim for net-zero energy consumption

The building has a steel frame and concrete walls. A fine-grained, metal-mesh screen marks the point where the new building meets the old.

Street-facing walls are wrapped in three types of glass-fibre-reinforced-polymer (GFRP) panels: sloped, perforated and ribbed. The different styles form a faceted surface that belies the "modest materiality" of GFRP.

[

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"Each panel is individually crafted and unique, with ribs that cast linear shadow patterns in sunlight, creating an ever-changing surface throughout the day and year," the studio said.

The sloped ones are embedded with lighting fixtures that pulsate at night, "expressing the city's dynamic electrical power grid", the team added.

Large vents are located at the base of the building

On the western elevation, the team created a green wall, with plants arranged in a geometric pattern that echoes the faceted panels. The greenery adds a welcome touch of biophilia to the urban block, the team said.

Inside the building – which houses electrical switchgear – there are ceiling heights of 25 feet (7.6 metres). Interior photos are not allowed due to security concerns.

It features back-lit fibreglass panels

According to the architects, the substation is the first of its kind in the US to aim for net-zero energy consumption. TEF Design worked with the Seattle-based International Living Futures Institute to establish a rating system for electrical substations.

Power is supplied by a 60-kilowatt array of solar panels. The team also incorporated elements to help reduce energy consumption that was informed by a rigorous research process.

[

Read:

Room2 opens "world's first whole-life net-zero hotel" in Chiswick

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/12/23/net-zero-hotel-room2-chiswick-project-orange/)

"Large vents at the base of the building exploit the city's cool temperatures through natural ventilation that helps eliminate the need for artificial cooling and reduce the building's energy load by nearly 40 per cent," the team said.

"Inside, supplemental fans, triggered only at high temperatures, help to cool the building only when needed."

TEF Design added a green wall to the western elevation

Other energy-related projects include a London energy hub that is wrapped in anodised aluminium, and an electricity substation in Finland that features a screen made of handmade bricks laid in a zigzag pattern.

The photography is byMikiko Kikuyama.

Project credits:

Architecture: TEF Design
Design team: Andrew Wolfram (principal-in-charge), Paul Cooper (project manager), Justin Blinn (project designer)
General contractor: Plant Construction Company
Landscape architecture: Creo Landscape
Civil engineering: BFK Engineers
Structural engineering: Rutherford + Chekene
MEP engineering: MHC Engineers
Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Utility consultant/owner's representative: Urb-in
Sustainability consultant: Thornton Thomasetti

The post TEF Design creates living wall for net-zero Larkin Street Substation in San Francisco appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #infrastructure #fibreglass #sanfrancisco #california #usa #solarpower #greenwalls #netzero

Green wall grows five storeys up San Francisco apartment block

Architecture office Woods Bagot has covered an apartment block in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighbourhood with a green wall that climbs up five floors.

Called 2177 Third Street, the residential building includes 114 condos with amenities including a private courtyard, beach access and a spa – or "spaw" – for dogs.

2177 Third Street is in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighbourhood

Once a hub for the shipbuilding industry, the dockside neighbourhood of Dogpatch is now home to trendy bars and cafes.

Woods Bagot designed the apartment block to take advantage of California's balmy climate, with an outdoor courtyard and individual balconies. Open pedestrian bridges link different parts of the building and allow the breeze to pass through.

The green wall is five storeys high

The living wall that covers a large part of the exterior was created by local living wall specialists Habitat Horticulture, and contains 13 species of plants such as geraniums and agapanthus arranged in a swirling pattern.

"Many of these were chosen to attract local pollinators and on any given day you can find honeybees, moths and bumblebees all at once," said Habitat Horticulture founder David Brenner.

"Our approach thoroughly examines the micro-climates, potential growth rates, and lighting conditions of the installation space to ensure that an appropriate species is specified for each spot on the wall," he told Dezeen.

Teal glazed bricks are from a local supplier

The green wall at 2177 Third Street is 48 feet (14.6 metres) high and 25 feet (7.6 metres) wide.

Habitat Horticulture carries out maintenance work on the bottom portion of the wall on a monthly basis. Twice a year, a swing stage is used to tend to the top portions and replace any plants as needed.

The green wall is visible from inside the building

The wall is visible through floor to ceiling glazing that lines the corridors on every level of the building. The greenery compliments the building's bronze-coloured facade, which features boxy balconies that project from between walls of windows.

"A simple window wall system for the facade integrates custom bronze anodised aluminium extrusions which frame the 15-foot (4.5 metres) facade modules," Woods Bagot told Dezeen.

"A mixture of framed balconies and metallic fritted glass adds dynamism to the building's exterior."

Pedestrian bridges overlook the internal courtyard

At ground level, the shopfront windows are framed by glazed teal-coloured bricks sourced locally from the Dogpatch neighbourhood.

Bronze accents feature inside the lobby, picking out the lift doors and reception desk.

A rooftop lounge has fire pits for residents to gather around, and the condos at 2177 Third Street also come with access to a co-working space, a bike workshop and a resident's lounge with a "chef's kitchen".

2177 Third Street is topped by a roof terrace with fire pits

Woods Bagot is a global architecture firm founded in Australia in 1896. Recent US projects by the firm include a restaurant in Manhattan and the practice's own New York offices.

Photography is courtesy of Woods Bagot.

Project credits:

Client: Align Real Estate
Woods Bagot architecture team: Guion Childress and Hannah Cao
Woods Bagot interiors team: Katy Mercer and Hannah Cao
Landscape architecture: Marina Design Group and Surface
Structural engineering: Nishkian Menninger
Civil engineer: BKF Engineers
Mechanical and electrical engineer: Meyers + Engineers
Plumbing engineering: SJ Engineers
Living wall: Habitat Horticulture
Facade: AGA design build
Sustainability consultant: Urban Fabrick

The post Green wall grows five storeys up San Francisco apartment block appeared first on Dezeen.

#residential #all #architecture #usa #sanfrancisco #california #housing #greenwalls #woodsbagot