Green Stop advances eco-friendly and communal cities
Green Stop is an all new green solution making cities more comfortable. The wooden structure was designed in cooperation with ROOH Studio. The idea behind Green Stop was to create an eco-friendly green solution bringing liveliness to outdoor spaces in town. We set up Green Stop at Malminkartano in July 2021. Check out the story of Green Stop, from idea to final product!
The cooperation started from a shared interest in nature friendly solutions
The story of Green Stop begins in the summer of 2020 when InnoGreen built a green city oasis in Kera. The aim of the project was to gather knowledge about what the residents need in their living environment. Based on the insights of the city oasis project the Research and Development Team started to plan a new product. Residents had requested a place to meet each other and to be surrounded by nature. What kind of solution could meet these needs in densely-built cities?
Requirements for the new product was a wooden structure that is adaptable to suit many functions in various spaces. To ensure a quality product, ROOH Studio was asked to join the design process. ‘We had put our heads together with Mikko Sonninen already during the Kasvattamo Greenhouse Project by Dodo ry, in 2020,’ tells Joonas Parviainen, architect from ROOH Studio, ‘Eco-friendly materials and nature combined with urban landscape was common ground from where it was good to start building our cooperation once again.’
A house for plants - inspiration from own experiences
At ROOH Studio, architects Ramya Nandyala and Saagar Tulshan, and landscape architect Ella Prokkola, joined the project with Parviainen. There were some challenges in designing the all new green structure. ‘The first question was how to include as much vegetation into the modular structure as possible so the outcome would still be easy on the eye from every angle,’ Nandyala notes. ‘The puzzle was solved when we got the idea to design the structure as a house for the plants,’ she reveals.
The group sketched four different concepts. ‘Each of us approached the challenge from our own angle. I felt like this was a case where my own experiences were an important source of inspiration. I reflected on the elements I wish to see in the urban environment and included them in the concept,’ Prokkola says. Lastly, the R&D Team of InnoGreen chose one of the concepts based on multifacetedness and it was built in Malminkartano in July 2021.
Cooling off after sauna - greenery with many possibilities
The starting point for the design process was an ecological green solution that improves the social environment and brings greenery to otherwise empty urban space. ‘Mikko said that while designing we should think of a place where to relax after the sauna,’ Parviainen says and cracks a smile. ‘When we visited the Green Stop, the atmosphere was cosy. It felt like a place to be by oneself, but not alone. I think we reached the aim,’ he states.
The story of Green Stop has not come to an end just yet. ‘The structure has only been tried out on a small scale. What if the modules were put together so that the structure would be much larger? The Green Stop can still be developed in many ways ,’ Tulshan points out.
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