terra vista

London Design Festival Architecture Competition 2024

- Top 10 Shortlisted Project

- 3rd overall commended project

Terra Vista was designed to tackle the challenges of urban living by promoting innovative, eco-friendly designs that seamlessly incorporate green spaces into high-rise environments. The competition challenged us to reimagine balconies and terraces as essential elements of high-density urban settings, emphasizing the use of cutting-edge materials and sustainable design principles to create harmonious, livable spaces.

Terra Vista, meaning “earth seen,” is a visionary residential building near Leicester Square in London, designed to reintegrate greenery and nature into the city. Constructed with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and sustainably sourced wood, this building shows a strong commitment to eco-friendly architecture. A subtle green cork paint adds texture throughout the project, enhancing its natural aesthetic. The balconies, crafted with timber panels featuring oval holes resembling falling leaves, are designed to support green walls, allowing plants to intertwine and grow, with the ultimate goal of transforming Terra Vista into a fully green, living building. The circular shape of the balconies took inspiration from holes made by animals in a tree, providing residents with the sensation of living within a natural, living structure. The first four levels of Terra Vista are residential, while the fifth level features a rooftop garden where residents can grow and harvest their own food, creating a sense of community within the building.

This project incorporates an advanced water harvesting system on the roof, which collects and recirculates water to support the rooftop garden and also meet the annual toilet water needs for 74% of the building, decreasing the total water consumption by approximately 18%. Terra Vista is further equipped with a VBF 100 Water Heating Battery that recycles heat from the ventilation ducts, storing it in a basement tank to supply most of the building’s hot water during the winter months. Additionally, a centralized system of electric water heaters meets demand year-round, eliminating the need for gas and reducing electricity usage by 20%. These advanced solutions further enhance Terra Vista’s commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency.

Envirobuild - London Design Festival Architecture Contest - Summer 2024

Rachel Brown / layrb11@nottingham.ac.uk / University of Nottingham ARB/RIBA Part 2 Master of Architecture
Marco di Trapani / laymd9@nottingham.ac.uk / University of Nottingham Bachelor of Architectural Environmental Engineering

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