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Created by 4D Landscape Design Ltd and TSPC in a heavily polluted industrial zone in Budapest after four years of planning and implementation, the Millenáris Széllkapu (Gate of Winds) is a modern 35,000 m2 recreational park which significantly contributes to the green areas of the capital. Széllkapu Park boasts the largest 3-dimensional vertical garden in Central Europe and has one of the largest green wall areas of Europe with its 5,000 m2 overall surface. In addition, the green zone’s diverse grandiose architectural elements include several modular living walls, a cherry tree grove, a forest-field-lake trio, a spectacular design of freestanding solar panel structures, and 355 new trees which now grace the former brownfield. Approximately 30% of the park was built on the top of a 20,000 m2 underground car park using green roof technology, along with several green roof structures on top. The installation of the hanging façade is an integral part of the park itself, allowing park users to enjoy a truly 3-dimensional view of the green spaces, as it blocks out the firewall of a huge shopping mall from the view inside the park. Designed, constructed and maintained by Green Wall Design Ltd, three types of green walls found here are a Hungarian-developed modular system on the concrete façades of the buildings planted with perennials; pre-grown ivy panels serve as a waterfall background whose curtain of water draws out letters that would be illegible without the dark, evergreen background; and most spectacular element is the 230 m long steel structure with wire mesh supplied by Jakob Rope Systems, the three-dimensional hanging garden, with partial solar panels on the top floor.
The total length of the double-sided, 4-story hanging garden installation is 230 m (6.6 m wide and 19.3 m high at the top). The pre-grown wire mesh panel method provided approximately 70% green coverage immediately after the opening of the park in 2020. A total of 15 types of creeping plants were used on the hanging wall, and 10 types of perennials on the modular green walls. Its high-tech irrigation, nutrient management system and its structural solutions are unique in Central Europe. The walls provide habitat, nesting place and food resources for small bird species and pollinators and the biological activity in the area has more than tripled with the construction of the park. Due to its success, and for the first time in Hungarian legislation, in 2022 the local building regulations obliged developers to build 5-10% green frontage on new office or commercial buildings with a frontage of more than 500 m2. Visitors can ride the panoramic elevators or climb up through the cool interior of the 3-D hanging garden and enjoy beautiful park vistas. In fact, a 10°C difference can be found between the sunny versus shaded areas of the hanging façade. After its first few years, the green wall designers say Széllkapu Park and the 3-Dimensional Hanging Garden are a great success which already has had an extraordinary impact on the architecture and green space culture of Central Europe. The architects say they wanted to create an enclosed green bay in which the flora feels good; and the origami-like folding of Széllkapu Park, playing with shapes and bold architectural details, can be fun and delightful for visitors while the Gate of Winds provides a much-needed breath of fresh air.
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Video Credit: Zsolt Hlinka courtesy of Green Wall Design Ltd. Image Credits: Zsolt Hlinka courtesy of Green Wall Design Ltd.; TSPC, www.tspc.hu /Norbert Juhász and Zsolt Hlinka