Cairo probably isn’t the first city where you would expect to see a multi-billion dollar eco complex. But that is set to be a reality within four years, thanks to futuristic plans designed by Belgian-born architect Vincent Callebaut.
The Gate Residence will be built in the city’s Heliopolis district and feature 1,000 apartments powered by solar panels, wind turbines and heating tubes. Living columns of vegetation that use the Sun’s rays to heat water and prevailing winds to cool living space will also be included.
Callebaut, a specialist in ecological architecture, was sought out by developers who wanted to create a landmark project for the troubled city’s urban landscape.
“To bring down the energy consumption of the building, we work above all with bio-climatisation. That means that the building is sculpted according to the direction of the prevailing winds, according to the path of the sun, and then we brought that architecture to life using new technologies including wind turbines, geo-thermic systems, a huge photovoltaic roof, vertical gardens, all to bring down the energy footprint of the project,” Callebaut told Reuters.
The design includes a series of “mega trees” — frames arranged in the shape of chimneys and lined with plants to encourage a wind-tunnel effect which help to cool the building without relying on electricity. The technique was widespread in ancient Egypt and is known in the country as ‘Malqaf’.
The living walls also contribute to heat reduction through transpiration and can be used to recycle waste water produced by the building.
The building also relies on a technique known as ‘passive cooling’.
“The principle is simple. It’s about bringing hot air from the outside, passing it underneath the foundations, at around 20 meters below street level where the earth has a roughly constant temperature of 15 degrees, and this cooled air is then released onto the patios, or released into the apartments, and in this way we reduce the constant reliance on mechanical air-conditioning,” Callebaut said.
The Gate Residence’s was consists of four levels of underground car parks, one level of supermarkets and nine levels of residential housing benefit from a solar-paneled roof, providing shade to the rooftop gardens.
Water is heated naturally thanks to the sun’s rays with purified water pumped through tubes located the length of the roof to then be used domestically.
“On the roof in the project you have ‘volcano’s on the roof containing solar tubes — tubes through which we pass cold water which is then heated naturally by the sun’s rays and is then pumped straight into bathrooms and kitchens to have clean hot water without systematically having to rely on electricity,” he said.
The building also includes vertical-axis wind turbines, with the main rotor shaft positioned vertically, facing the prevailing winds in order to generate a maximum amount of electricity. The roof area will feature a community garden, with orchards, swimming pools and a sports complex.
Callebaut said that despite recent instability in Cairo, he believed the project would be delivered on time, by 2019. Building is due to start in March.
“During the trips I’ve already made (to Cairo), I have felt that among young people there is a real energy to change things, they want more democracy, they want to improve their quality of life, they want to improve the quality of the neighborhoods they’re living in, they want to clean up the city, they also want to come up with new models for intelligent cities which produce their own energy and recycle their own waste, and all that is part of a really positive dynamic which is coming to life in Cairo today,” Callebaut said.
At least 10 percent of the apartments in the building have already been sold, Callebaut said. The complex will cover 4.8 million square feet (450,000 square metres) and the building Callebaut hopes the complex will generate energy savings upwards of 50 per cent, as well as significantly decrease the local carbon footprint.
Egypt remains in a fragile state, following the popular uprising of 2011 which led to the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak and the fall two years later of elected President Mohamed Mohamed Mursi.
(Reuters)
