Heidi Bullinga Architect

A façade contractor approached us asking for a way to created ‘a living façade that could grow food in the winter’ for a corner building in Astoria, a thriving Greek community. We proposed a double-skin system with grates and operable louvers to facilitate ventilation, cleaning, and caring for the plants and an ‘intensive’ green roof. The café/restaurant on the ground floor would make use of the garden herbs and vegetables and the entire building would benefit from the thermal buffer.