Oregon High rise will boast the 18-story vertical garden

on Monday,January 18,2010 23:01

Thanks to a growing emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility, many architects and designers are making a concerted effort to go green. In the case of one Oregon office building, that notion may have been taken rather literally as a team of architects and federal officials have announced plans to establish one of the world''s most extensive vertical gardens on the face of an 18-story office building.

The concept behind the 250-feet-tall trellises is to create a piece of living architecture while providing an effective and economical way to keep the building cool during the summer months.
The garden would be broken up into seven vegetated fins that would be places at acute angles, providing a metal framework for planters and greenery to flourish.

A part of a $135 million remodeling of the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, the largest single stimulus project announced for the Beaver State, the design is the brainchild of Don Eggleston of SERA architects who views the design as a work in progress.

Though the plan is slow to form, analysts are proud that the government is taking an interest in green architecture.

"The GSA has been a real leader in the use of green roofs and walls," Steven Peck of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities told the Washington Post. "It''s nice to see the government leading by example."