The largest vertical garden in Central Europe is the new, futuristic building AFI Karlín

Publisher
Tisková zpráva
19.11.2018 11:00

The company NĚMEC has planted an incredible 41,000 plants here, resulting in 584 small gardens, all on an area of 1,500 m²!

The surprising shape of the AFI building, distinct from the neighboring buildings, was created by renowned architect David R. Chisholm of CMC ARCHITECTS, who is the author of the entire project. The building was inspired by two opposing phenomena - the historic engineering factories of Karlín and the green hill of Vítkov. AFI Karlín - Butterfly then surprises passersby with its richly detailed facades, vertical gardens, and a friendly face towards its surroundings.

"Creating an extensive vertical garden on the facade of the unique AFI Karlín building was a significant challenge in our climatic conditions. Vertical gardens are a living organism, evolving continuously over time, which is also their charm and beauty. Next year they will look different again, becoming richer, bushier, creating continuous green bands of plants," says the owner of NĚMEC s.r.o., Josef Němec.

The entire project was extremely demanding; the plants began to be planted in the summer of 2017, when it was still not possible to operate the automatic irrigation system, and it was necessary to manually irrigate the gardens throughout last summer, which required an enormous amount of work.

The irrigation of the greenery is now, of course, ensured by an intelligent irrigation system that monitors the amount of water in the system and automatically fills it as needed.

For this unique project, we decided to use our patented vertical cascading garden design, which operates on the principle of self-watering pots. Water is filled from the upper level - as soon as the water level in the planter below the pots rises to the required height, it flows down to the lower levels through overflow pipes. Only at the ground level is the water connected to the sewage system for irrigation. It is our own patented system, which is very simple and very effective. A significant advantage is also the straightforward subsequent maintenance and the potential replacement of plants.

The AFI Karlín building is the largest project with living vertical cascading gardens in the Czech Republic. Although it is not possible to precisely calculate the impact of the green facade on the building's energy consumption, it will certainly reduce the energy demands for cooling. The facade absorbs a significant amount of thermal radiation. Plants evaporate a large amount of water during the summer months, and the humid air heats up less easily. A major advantage is also its great ability to absorb noise.

Its unique appearance also beautifully crowns the unique atmosphere of the pulsating Karlín district.

As the project author, David R. Chisholm, mentions, the dynamics of the entire building is mainly supported by its facades - they transform the building into a living organism that grows, changes, and moves over time. At the same time, the facades insulate the building and produce oxygen for the immediate surroundings. The vertical green gardens also improve the acoustic conditions in the nearby area. The open atrium, which connects the surrounding area with the building, is created as a calm 'indoor' outdoor space not only for the building's users but also for local residents.

The greening of cities and green architecture have become an absolute hit and a necessity of today's time. This trend responds to significant environmental pollution, increasing traffic density, and rising noise and dust levels in cities. Unfortunately, in many places, parks, gardens, or trees have had to give way to other projects, leading to a declining amount of urban greenery.

An ideal solution to increase the number of green spaces in cities and green areas where it is not possible to build new parks or plant trees is vertical green gardens.

The company NĚMEC has unique experience in implementing vertical gardens, both in the Czech Republic and abroad, making it a clear choice when selecting suppliers for the bold and visionary AFI Karlín building.

The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.