City Cell Prototype (CCP)

The currently growing global urge to adapt to climate change has led the team of the applied research platform NEXT Institute to provide urban solution to this problematic. Designed specifically for the city of Brno in Czech Republic, it responds to the need of the city to expand its green-blue infrastructure, improve microclimate and manage rainwater. The City Cell is now at its prototype stage and it’s being used as a testing ground before its implementation into more permanent projects.

The prototype, designed by architecture studio KOGAA, is able to collect various data concerning urban greenery plantation and rainwater management.
Featuring seating, night illumination system, daylight shading and a raised wooden flooring, the structure is designed as urban furniture made to merge its functions with the public spaces.

Its shape develops from the need to provide shading, collect water, and the intent to create a spatial communication between the new object and the existing square, also achieved through the two-sided openness. Additionally, its structure was designed with easy replacement in mind in case of damage.
The central part of the prototype is a biofilter, which collects rainwater from the roof, filtering it through settling and phyto-processes. Once filtered, rainwater is then gathered in storage tanks, from where it is pumped by a drip irrigation system to the vertical greenery on the structure’s outer walls.

Together with the vertical greenery, the biofilter allows water retention and evaporation, allowing the surrounding microclimate to cool down. Its construction primarily consists of pre-dried KVH timber, which doesn’t require additional protective coating. Also, electricity for the LED lighting system as well as for the water pump is provided by two solar panels on the roof, making the whole prototype entirely energy self-sufficient.

NEXT Institute

Collaborators: KOGAA studio
Client: Veřejná zeleň města Brna (The public greenery of the city of Brno)