Vincent Callebaut Architectures (VCA) has designed an eco-friendly and sustainable mixed-use scheme for Cairo, Egypt.

Plans have been revealed by VCA, a French architecture and design firm, for a residential, office and leisure development for the Egyptian capital.

Known as the “Gate Residence”, the development will span 450,000sq m (4,900,000sq ft) and provide 1,000 new apartments, community gardens, offices and a large shopping mall.

VCA has employed the latest techniques in sustainable architecture to produce this design for their client and developer Abraj Misr. The roof, mainly covered in solar panels, will be supported by nine ‘megatrees’ acting as wind-catchers to ventilate the structure while offering a platform for a large community/ public garden.



According to VCA, the eight major green features of the project are as follows:

1. The Windcatchers transformed into mega trees in the middle of each green patio.
2. The Passive Geothermal Cooling System integrated along each core with the vertical shafts.
3. The Solar Photovoltaic Cells covering all the solar roof and the west and east facades.
4. The Solar Heater Tubes located on the roof above each core.
5. The Wind Turbines integrated along the axial spine at both ends of the Promenade.
6. The Roof Food Gardens covering the whole complex improving the thermal inertia of the roof.
7. The Living Walls growing along the 9 Megatrees and the Fogger system for the automatic watering refreshing the atmosphere.
8. The use of Recyclable and/or Recycled Furniture (Cradle to Cradle) recommended to the future residents in order to decrease their carbon footprint.

The Gate Residence has a budget of EGP4.5bn (US$590m, €530m, £390m). If a building permit is granted, construction is expected to begin in March of this year, with hopes of completing the build by 2019. The development is also seeking Gold Plus LEED certification.

Find out more here.