Urban greening with vertical landscaping

A vertically landscaped hotel by Sheppard Robson is coming to the Holborn Viaduct, “setting the standard for urban greening in London.”

Designed for the Dominvs Group, Citicape House will be the largest living wall in Europe, and one of the largest green walls is the world.

At 3700 square metres and with 400,000 plants in its facade, it will be able to absorb eight tons of pollution and produce six tons of oxygen annually.

Citicape House in London will include the biggest living wall in Europe.

The building will be 11 storeys, with a 382-key five star hotel, offices, co-working and event spaces, a spa, ground-level restaurant and sky bar.

Sheppard Robson says that, “the proposed building creates an opportunity to broadcast fresh ideas about how the built environment can address pertinent issues such as air quality, climate change and air pollution.”

Citicape House will create 863 square metres of new public realm, with its rooftop garden and incredible views open to the public, and a ground level plaza at the prow of the building. At roof level the greenery continues to wrap around the building, providing space for threatened native wildflower species.

Located in London’s Culture Mile between Farringdon and Moorgate, the surroundings are extremely traffic-heavy, but Citicape House will set a new standard for Urban Greening Factor in London, a new policy set out in the Greater London Authority’s New London Plan. With its projected UGF of 1.37, it exceeds the mandate of 0.3 UGF 45 times, and will have the highest score in greater London.

The facade will be able to absorb eight tons of pollution each year.

The new living wall will lower the local temperate by three to five degrees Celsius, and improve the air quality by trapping around 500 kilograms of particulate matter each year.

Sheppard Robson want the building to be as sustainable as possible, so they plan to include rainwater collection to irrigate the green wall, efficient glazing to minimise heat gain, and renewable energy sources, including air-source heat pumps.

“On a site that is so prominent, there was a real drive to inject some fresh perspectives on how to grapple with some of London’s most urgent environmental issues, including air quality and noise and dust pollution,” says Sheppard Robson partner Dan Burr. “Rather than having an isolated patch of greenery, we felt that an immersive and integrated approach would have the biggest impact on the local environment conditions and making a better and more liveable city, as well as articulating a clear architectural statement.”

The living wall will lower the temperature around the building by three to five degrees celcius.