The tall plant-like exterior of this 36-storey building in St Louis, in Missouri , is designed to allow light to flood into each of its 305 apartments. Tiers of four floors are stacked on top of each other, as the mostly glass building rises, with each tier fanning out like the silky leaves on a plant.
Every home will have a corner living space, which increases the amount of light that seeps in and improves residents’ views. All apartments look out over the Forest Park to the west and to the east, the Gateway Arch, a stainless-steel monument to the westward expansion of America. Each tier has four storeys, and where the top of each one juts out there are outdoor terraces.
More importantly, the angled glass design will save energy and reduce electricity bills.
This is the first St Louis project for New York and Chicago-based architects Studio Gang, which designed the 82-storey Aqua Tower in Chicago. On the firm’s website, director Jeanne Gang says: “In a climate with four distinct seasons, we wanted to make it possible for residents to enjoy the different views and natural changes in light over the course of the year.”
The sloping of the glass also gives the apartments a greater sense of space.
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The entire structure, which will be called the One Hundred building, will measure a sizeable 50,200 sq metres and rise to 117 metres.
Most of the apartments will be one- and two-bedroom homes; the remaining 20% will be studios and three-bedroom homes. The bottom floors of One Hundred will contain commercial units, and there will be basement parking.
At the very top of the building there will be a green roof and shared garden.
It will be a few years before this one is up and running. Developer Mac Properties says it will start building the $130m (€125m) tower next year, and has set a completion date for 2019.