We would like to use the Vertical Oasis Building as the vehicle to create a new type of town made of buildings that would improve the environment around them.
– Adam Bialobrzeski

FAAB Architektura have designed a conceptual eco-building for Saudi Arabia aimed at changing the environment around it.

The Vertical Oasis Building would feature 59 above- and below-ground levels spread across a height of 220m (722ft).

A mixed-use programme would include retail, office, hotel and residential spaces, as well as a 712sq m (7,700sq ft) rooftop park.

The main feature of the tower's design, though, is a permeable façade broken up with groups of terraces and swathes of greenery.

The intention is for the façade to both harvest energy from the sun and lower the energy requirements of the building.

White building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panelling would both reflect heat to keep the temperature of the building down and generate electricity, while photovoltaic glazing would also contribute towards electricity generation.

The inset terraces would help to capture breezes, allowing building occupants to make use of some natural ventilation, while the vertical garden elements would help to purify the air, lower the temperature, reduce noise pollution, manage stormwater and contribute to biodiversity.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning would be used to allow the façade to manage itself, although it would also be possible to monitor in-built sensors via a mobile app.

Inhabitants themselves would be given the tools to control, manage and enhance the internal environment.

Elsewhere, ground heat pumps would distribute heat from the building to those around it as required.

Adam Bialobrzeski, architect at FAAB, said: "We would like to use the Vertical Oasis Building as the vehicle to create a new type of town made of buildings that would improve the environment around them.

"Eco-buildings are visually attractive and, with modern technology, we can give inhabitants the tools to control and enhance the building's performance. At the end of this road, we might find ourselves living in the new man-made type of ecosystem."