Real Dos Living Walls and Green Roofs

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Lima (FUA)

Region

Latin America and the Caribbean

Native title of the NBS intervention

Jardínes Verticales y techos verdes Torre Real 2

Short description of the intervention

Located in the Lima district of San Isidro - the heart of commercial activity in Peru - the Real Dos Tower is a prime office building in the Centro Empresarial Real de San Isidro. It was inaugurated in 2018, and it is distributed over 23 levels (14 floors and 9 basements) and enjoys a landscaped green roof (1162 m2) at the crown of the building and numerous outdoor vertical gardens at full height (2365 m2) on the three main fronts (1, 4). This project was a finalist in the 2018 Mipim Awards, considered the ‘Oscars’ of world architecture, and stood out for its architecture and design, due to its attributes of innovation and sustainability (2).
This building has managed to create harmony between design and efficient use of resources. It is characterised by a glass façade with colourful movable shutters and symbolic Peruvian designs (2, 3, 6). It has green walls on the three main fronts, four daylight fronts and a roof garden (2). The architect, Jean Nouvel, worked together with ARVE Peru on the overall landscape plans for the Real Dos tower (1, 3).
This is part of the façade remodelling project of the Camino Real Towers in the Real Business Centre, led by the real estate company Grupo Centenario (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). This overarching Project has sought to develop 4,475 m2 of vertical gardens and roof gardens, which have a technified irrigation system to generate efficiencies in water use, meeting the plants' water requirements in the different seasons of the year. Their implementation helps to filter CO2 and renew the O2 in the office complex.
The ARVE group describes these actions as conducive to creating thermal barriers and sound insulation, a better environment for rest, work and entertainment and increasing property value (7)

Website of the intervention

https://www.greenroofs.com/projects/real-dos-living-walls/

Principal problems

Climate-Related Hazards

Heat stress & Extreme temperatures

Environmental Degradation

Air pollution

Health, Well-being and Social cohesion

Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)

Mental health issues (stress, anxiety)

Implementation area characterization

Climate

Arid (Desert, Steppe)

Ecosystem

Urban or built environment

Address

Vía Principal 133, San Isidro 15073, Perú
San Isidro
Peru

Location

Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place

Area boundary (map-based)

Total area

24000.00m²

NBS area

3527.00m²

Area description

Urban (main city)

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Central Business District / City Centre

Building

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

unknown

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2015

End date of the intervention

2018

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

Promote urban planning as a fundamental mechanism for the growth of cities that offer quality of life, with a vision of sustainable cities (5).
Develop public spaces and green areas that are made available to the community (5).
Seek ways to reduce emissions and waste, and along the way, optimise the use of resources (5).
Encourage the generation of economic and social links between people (5).
Filter CO2 and renew O2 in the office complex spaces (5).
Create thermal barriers by regulating the interior temperature and reducing the use of artificial resources.
Generate acoustic insulation that reduces the noise impact of the city inside a building.
Generate a better environment for rest, work and entertainment (7)
Build green spaces that promote the reduction of daily stress and increase people's productivity and morale (7)
Increase the value of the property (7)

Key Priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Climate change adaptation

Climate change mitigation

Environmental quality

Air quality improvement

Noise reduction

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Improving mental health

Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation

Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Install vertical or horizontal artificial surfaces that help with carbon storage and cooling

Mental health and well-being objectives

Generate a better environment for rest, work and entertainment, and reduce daily stress (7)

Mental health and well-being activities

Increase accesible green areas in the city (7)

Implementation activities and NBS focus

Implementation activities

The walls of the tower façade were designed, and plants were installed on the three main façades, as well as a roof garden. Approximately 8,500 plants representing more than 25 drought-tolerant species were planted on the over 5600 square-foot Real Dos Roof Garden. Approximately 13,000 plants of 20 species were planted on its almost 4,000 square feet of different Greenwall (1)
The installation used modular aluminium panels, including 030 and 040 non-woven geotextile bags, with a controlled and automated irrigation system with 20 plants per square metre (1). ARVE was in charge of specifying the landscape proposal for the Atelier Jean Nouvel, according to the local plants available in Lima. The landscaping plan for Real Dos was based on a diversity of colours and organic shapes, which fit with the façade design around the Peruvian identity (1). All green areas in the commercial tower are automatically irrigated with recycled wastewater (3).

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

Creation of green roofs and walls

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Nature on buildings (external)

Green roofs

Green walls or facades

Amenities offered by the NBS

Unknown

Design elements for well-being

Visual elements (e.g., expansive views, scenic views, natural light, diverse vegetation)

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Regulating services

Air quality regulation

Noise reduction

Carbon storage/sequestration

Mediation of smell / noise / visual impacts

Cultural services

Inspiration for culture, art and design

Mental and physical health and wellbeing

Scale

Spatial scale

Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)

Beneficiaries

Demographics in implementation area

According to the latest Census conducted in 2017, there are 60,735 inhabitants in the district of San Isidro, of which 26,906, 43%, are men and 33,829, 57%, are women (8). It is the district with the highest human development index in the country (9). 100% of households receive a high per capita income (10).
In this district, stately homes and modern high-rise buildings abound, making it one of the most modern districts in the city of Lima. San Isidro, as well as being the financial and commercial centre of Lima, has a great cultural activity, with several theatres, art galleries, bookstores and cultural centres (9).

Socio-economic profile of the area

High-income

Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts

Unknown

Non-government actors

Private sector/Corporate/Business

Primary Beneficiaries

Private sector/Corporate/Company

Citizens or community groups

Specify primary beneficiaries

During 2022, it became evident that the green areas implemented in the business complex were used more frequently by users, allowing them to enjoy better health and overall well-being (5).
On the other hand, the Torre Real 2, was the only Latin American project finalist in the 2018 Mipim Awards, considered the ‘Oscar’ of world architecture (2). This Peruvian project, developed by Grupo Centenario, stood out for its world-class architecture and design, surpassing its Latin American peers (2).

Marginalized groups

Unknown

Other beneficiaries

City infrastructure (e.g., reduced flooding, improved water quality)

Public health (e.g. increased physical activity opportunities, reduced stress)

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Led by non-government actors

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

Grupo Centenario: initiator and financier of the project (2)
Ateliers Jean Nouvel worked with architect Marco Pacheco Meléndez of ARVE Perú on the overall landscape plans (2, 3)
Associated architect: Alberto Medem, Humboldt Arquitectos (3)
Local architect: Miguel Rodrigo P.A. Arquitectos (3)
General contractor: Graña y Montero (3)
Project Management and Construction Supervision: PMS DRS Ingeniería y Gestión (3)
Greenroof & living wall design, construction & maintenance: ARVE PERÚ (3)
Greenroof system: SOPRANATURE: SOPREMA (3)
Greenwall system: ARVE VERTICAL GARDEN (3)

Key actors - initiating organization

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders)

Unknown

The project didn't involve any form of stakeholder participatory activities

Uncommon actors ("Missing actors")

Unknown

Land owners

Real estate developer

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to a Regional Directive/Strategy

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Voluntary (spontaneous)

Enablers & Barriers

Type of enablers

Technological innovations

Please provide details (e.g, name of the plan or strategy) for the selected policies or initiatives.

For the green roofs, SOPREMA systems were used, which offer innovative waterproofing, insulation, soundproofing and vegetated solutions for the roofing, building envelope and civil engineering sectors (11).
For the vertical gardens, ARVE used modular systems that house vegetation, installed on vertical planes such as walls, friezes and structures. They are fed by an automatic irrigation system distributed internally, which guarantees the exact amount of water for the development of the species (12).

Governace and decison-making instruments

Unknown

Arrangements for governance cooperation

Information-sharing platforms or networks (e.g. websites for sharing best practices, data or resources pertinent to the project)

Performance monitoring and evaluation frameworks (e.g. adoption of KPIs, or establishment or monitoring and evaluation processes)

Barriers

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Please specify total cost (EUR)

26325185,08

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

n/a

Source(s) of funding

Corporate investment

Type of fund(s) used

Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Co-finance for NBS

Entrepreneurship opportunities

Business models

Green densification model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)

5. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Climate change

Enhanced carbon sequestration

Expected enhanced carbon sequestration

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Achieved increased green space area

Increased number of species present

Achieved increased number of species present

Description of environmental benefits

-Enhanced carbon sequestration: "The implementation of green areas helps to filter CO2 and renew the O2 in the office complex." (5)
-Increased green space area: "Real 2, in terms of landscaping, has around 1162 m2 of green roofs and 2365 m2 of vertical gardens." (4)
-Increased number of species present: "Approximately 8,500 plants representing more than 25 drought tolerant species were planted on the over 5600 square-foot Real Dos Roof Garden. And approximately 13,000 plants of 20 species were planted on its almost 4,000 square feet of different Greenwall." (1)

Environmental impact indicators

Total number of vascular plant species protected or introduced

Over 20

Green space area created (in ha)

0.3527

Economic impacts

Unknown

Mental health benefits

Reduced stress

Improved mood

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Actors involved in the assessment, monitoring or evaluation of NBS impacts

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Type of indicators

Input indicators

Process indicators

Outcome indicators

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Cost-benefit analysis

Unknown

Transparency

Public disclosure of project funding sources and/or budgets

Online disclosure of technical reports (e.g. project documents, reports, or data)

Justice

Community satisfaction

Unknown

Description of locals satisfaction with the project

No specific feedback is found on vertical gardens and green roofs. However, positive feedback is found about the office complex and the spaces offered within it.

Trade-offs & Negative impacts

Unknown

Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement

No initiatives or policies were implemented

High-quality & Transformative NBS

Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community)

Yes

Goal setting and impacts delivery

No, although benefits were delivered in all the 3 key areas, but in the planning phase, the project did not aim to address issues in all the 3 key priority areas.

Reaching original project goals

Some of the project goals were achieved

Long-term perspective

Yes

Cost-effective solutions

Yes

Equitable impacts

A. All stakeholders benefit fairly from the project

Transformative capacity

Technical change (e.g. built infrastructure of cities and their parts, roads, buildings and so on)

Magnitude of change

Reformist: by focusing on addressing underlying drivers of change but failing to address the problem structurally or systemically

Application of lessons learned

Unknown

Perception of Environmental Change

Unknown

6. Sources

References

Greenroofs.com (2021). Real Dos Living Walls. Accessed on September 11, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Schindler (2018). Real 2 es seleccionado como el mejor edificio de oficinas de América Latina. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Velazquez, L. (2021). Featured Project: Real Dos. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Centenario Oficinas (n.d.). Centro Empresarial Real. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Grupo Centenario (2018). Memoria Anual 2022 Inversiones Centenario S.A.A. y Subsidiarias . Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Revista Gana Más (2015). Inician obras de Real 2 en el Centro Empresarial Real de San Isidro. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

ARVE Perú (n.d.). ARVE Perú Homepage. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

San Isidro Municipality (2020). Compedio Estadístico 2020. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

San Isidro Lima (n.d.). San Isidro - Distrito Limeño en Perú. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

10.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (2020). Planos Estratificados de Lima Metropolitana a Nivel de Manzana 2020. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

11.

Greenroofs.com (n.d.). SOPREMA. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Comments and notes

Additional insights

The Centro Real Empresarial has implemented, as part of its RSC programme, other greening projects, such as biogardens and the Choquehuanca Plaza.

Public Images