Footprint

Studio RHE has submitted plans to build a 24-storey eco-tower in Newham, east London. The proposed tower, dubbed SilverTree, will be built on a brownfield site at the Royal Victoria Dock.

Richard Hywel Evans, the design architect, said: ‘We have designed a building which utilises all of the available technologies and latest green thinking to provide not only a landmark for London, but also a low energy building. The emphasis is on truly enjoyable accommodation with larger apartments all of which have stunning views of East London and the Thames, heavily planted protected terraces, balconies and convertible sun spaces.’

Two of the tower’s curved facades will be wrapped with curved aluminium bands containing embedded photovoltaic panels, which will provide both electricity and solar shading for the building. The third ‘open’ facade will contain extensive planting on terraces to create a ‘vertical forest’.

The proposed tower will also contain ground source heat pumps and a central biomass energy centre. An energy efficiency and sustainability study carried out by Atelier Ten states that the building should achieve a Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) Level 4 and a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating.

The Borough of Newham will make a decision on the planning application within the next three months. If the scheme gets approval, the tower is intended to be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics.

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Filed under: Eco-projects