Gazeta Wyborcza in the issue of November 6, 2021 published an article by Przemysław Jedlecki entitled "Nine skyscrapers with green facades. The first such project in Katowice" presenting the project by Atelier PS located in Osiedle Tysiąclecia.

Millenial Gardens, this is how the pioneering residential buildings in Poland were called, assume the creation of centrally operated facade gardens adapted to the climatic conditions in Poland. Various types of plants have been selected - from grasses and vines, through shrubs, to trees several meters high. Over two years ago, the cultivation of plant sets was started in designed and prepared for this purpose cubes with appropriately selected granules to check their suitability to local conditions, resistance and test the method of supplying them with water and nutrient mixtures, as well as the method of drainage. An individual way of "handling" the greenery has been developed in cooperation with designers of greenery and plumbing installations, with dosing and irrigation and drainage control systems, which due to its uniqueness can be considered fully original…. Architecturally, there is a complete possibility of maintaining greenery on terraces and balconies from the outside, without the need to provide the staff with access to the passage through the apartment. It was assumed that the care and cultivation of greenery, as well as the monitoring of the irrigation system and the discharge of excess water, was entrusted to a specialist company operating independently of the residents of the estate.

Greenery is a source of oxygen, filters the air, eliminating dust and pollution, moisturizes and ionizes the air, creates a human-friendly microclimate. Thanks to it, the temperature balance between the inside and outside of the building is reduced by 3 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Green also contributes to acoustic comfort by reducing noise, reflects acoustic waves that are so annoying for humans in concrete and glass housing estates. The whole solution gives a unique comfort of communing with life-giving nature, not only thanks to the home garden on the ground floor or the green roof garden, but also on all several floors between top and the bottom. Each resident has his/her own garden as an extension of the living space within the urban ecosystem. It is therefore a huge added value for living in a multi-storey building in a housing estate of several dozen thousand people in the capital of a Silesian conurbation with several million inhabitants.

Marek Skwara

Full text is available at: https://katowice.wyborcza.pl/katowice/7,35063,27773442,dziewiec-wiezowcow-z-zielonymi-elewacjami-projekt-dla-osiedla.html