British designer Thomas Heatherwick has unveiled a plant-covered shopping center in Shanghai, China, that incorporates over 1,000 trees and 250,000 plants. Named 1000 Trees to reference its planting, the nine-story building was designed to resemble a greenery-covered mountain. The project is located in a residential area 20 minutes from the city center, in close proximity to the M50 arts district and a public park. The development is split over two plots of land connected by a narrow government plot and incorporates several historic buildings.
1000 Trees features over 1,000 trees and about 250,000 plants across its 15-acre site
True to its name, the development features over 1,000 trees and about 250,000 plants across its 15-acre site. More than simply creating a beautiful natural backdrop in the city, the selection of plants carefully considers the biodiversity of the area while forming its own cooler microclimate. Residents will be able to experience the unique ecology of 1,000 Trees while traversing the museums, restaurants, shops, cafés, and other amenities located across the development’s 300,000 square meters, or over 3 million square feet.
The building is based on a flexible nine-meter grid, which is rotated to allow panoramic river views from terraces. These cubic elements are imagined as ‘pixels’, which visually break down the buildings’ scale and disrupt the repetition of the surrounding wall of towers. At the summit, a glass atrium draws daylight into the heart of the retail levels. Externally, the atria are expressed as cliffs in the mountain face; just visible, the painted bold red and yellow steel structure hints that artists have been at work inside as well.
‘Existing planning permission for two conventional shopping mall blocks had been granted for the site, but a huge, boxy building would need to be broken into smaller pieces in order to fit in with the surroundings,’ explains Heatherwick Studio. ‘The integrated planting acts as a natural balancing element and the building’s edges are lowered to minimize the impact where it meets the art district and park, reducing the discernible threshold between them.’
