25 Verde – A different sort of treehouse

Forest life – in the middle of the city: this apartment house in Turin not only looks unusual, its lush vegetation also offers residents a host of advantages. Completed in 2012, architect Luciano Pia’s 25 Verde project is now covered in greenery on all five storeys. 150 trees have been placed in large pots on the street-side terraces and balconies. The façade is a steel structure whose tree-shaped silhouettes reinforce the overall treehouse impression. The advantages of this building are clear: the trees enhance the building’s appearance and filter about 200,000 litres of carbon dioxide from the air every hour. What’s more, noise from the street is muffled. In the summer and autumn, the leaves provide pleasant shade, preventing the 63 apartments from becoming too hot. In contrast, there is plenty of daylight in the bare-branched winter and spring.