The project is located in the city of Lanzhou, China and is a master plan for a mixed-use area with a total size of 3.5 million square meters. The project includes public, residential, office buildings, shopping centers, libraries, museums, residential complexes, etc. and the maximum height of the buildings in the area is 300 meters. The plot is located opposite of the city’s new train station. The main challenge of the project is that Lanzhou is one of the cities with the highest air pollution in China and this problem is very serious for its residents. With our design, we are looking for a solution using different architectural measures to achieve an effective and sustainable air filtration result.
In this regard, the project uses several measures to improve the air quality in the area, such as:
– The shape of the project is calculated aerodynamically and the mainstream winds are taken into account so that the air can move like a stream over and along the project. That’s how the overall geometry of the project will serve as a “curtain” to protect from air pollution.
– All buildings have green roofs, which act as a filter for dirt particles. The greenery will be irrigated by an automatic watering system and the water will absorb those dirt particles. It has been proved that when raining in China, the air is cleaner.
– All facades on the four sides of the project will serve as a filter for dirt particles.
– In some of the buildings of the project will have fans installed to push the air pollution out of the zones.
– There will be metal elements in the shape of a “tree” in the peripheral areas of the project to absorb the polluted air, to purify it and bring clean air into the area.
– We plan to place “clean air capsules” evenly in the zone of the project where people can go for a breath of fresh air in the peak times of air pollution. The bus stops within the project will also have that kind of structure – “clean air capsules”.
All these measures will be managed by a common automatic control system, which will turn on and off the system or only parts of it, depending on the indicators for air pollution in any time. The aim of this project is to achieve perfect harmony, clean and comfortable urban environment in conditions of extremely polluted city. Many of the buildings will be powered by renewable energy sources as part of the buildings will have surplus of energy production.