Recall that the jury first chooses the best skyscrapers of four global regions from all the applicants (this time there were 88) (we wrote about this in detail earlier), and at the end of the year, based on the results of the presentations of the authors of the projects of these 4 towers, it awards one of them the title of the best in the world.
One Central Park won the Grand Prix for its innovative project, not only in the field of eco-technologies, but also in the business of “showing” them to the general public for the sake of educational effect. It is difficult for the layperson to tell the difference between an advanced “sustainable” building and a completely green one, especially if the latter is equipped with a green roof and surrounded by a park, which itself can consume a lot of resources. Therefore, the architects decided to demonstrate the energy efficiency of One Central Park on its facades in the form of vertical landscaping - plants in boxes and thin "green walls". This part of the project was in charge of Patrick Blanc, an eminent hydroponicist and frequent partner of Nouvel on similar projects. As a result, the world's tallest green facade appeared, and it is truly "working", and not serving as an expensive decor, as is often the case.
It is not easy for plants to survive on the walls of a 116 m high building due to strong winds and sunlight (although the building is deployed from the south), so 350 species of flora resistant to such conditions were chosen for planting. They are watered with the waste water of the residential complex, which is run through its own sewage treatment plant. The greenery and 600mm deep "shelves" protruding from the facades provide shading, as does the second landmark element of the project - 320 reflectors on a 40-meter cantilever overhang of the taller tower's roof, onto which 40 heliostats mounted on the roof of the lower part direct the sun's rays. Thanks to this, the atrium between the two volumes, the pool area and the park surrounding the tower receive enough sun all year round (only 200 m2 of direct sunlight), although they are in the shadow of their skyscraper. On a full moon, heliostats redirect the light of the moon into the park, and on ordinary nights, the reflectors are illuminated by LEDs, turning into a “city chandelier”.
Shading the façade collectively reduces the thermal effect of the sun on interiors by 20-40%, which, when combined with other eco-elements, results in a 26% reduction in energy consumption compared to the NSW average of Sydney. The residential complex has its own thermal power plant with a capacity of 30 megawatts, a trigeneration system (2 megawatts) and the already mentioned waste water treatment station with a throughput of 1 million liters / day.
