LIFE bringing nature back to concrete jungles

Poland’s Katowice Airport has three terminals, a railway connection, and a 3200m long runway - a huge amount of hard concrete surfacing. The airport and other facilities similar in design, such as large-scale commercial centres, shopping malls, and parking lots are at increasing risk of extreme weather. Imagine a shopping mall car park in a heatwave, or a flood: both temperatures and floodwaters rise quickly, due to a lack of trees or absorbent green surfaces. Consequently, the damage comes with a high insurance premium.  

But a LIFE project is transforming the concrete spaces surrounding Katowice Airport, and other public buildings. LIFE Archiclima aims to weather 32 of Poland’s facilities against the storms of the future, predominantly torrential rains, urban floods, high winds, and drought. The five-year programme carries out vulnerability and risk assessments on large scale commercial buildings and sets adaptation plans that put nature first.  

In a survey conducted in Poland in 2020, over 300 facility managers highlighted the challenges from weather extremes. LIFE Archiclima is bringing nature-based solutions to reduce these challenges, one being the so-called urban heat island effect. For example, standing on a hot concrete car park during a heatwave is 15°C hotter than on green areas, putting users at risk from heat and a greater demand for air conditioning. In heavy rainfall, the same car parks, and flat roofs are at flood risk, with nowhere for the water to flow, and subsequent heavy bills to cover the damage. These roofs and exposed hard surfaces are also at risk from high winds – making it harder to protect goods, vehicles, and property. After heavy rains in June 2020, insurers received over 50 thousand reports of damage caused by flooding; and in January 2022, there were 40% more claims that in the same period in 2021 – a trend only set to rise with weather extremes becoming more frequent.  

To date, 21 facilities have joined the LIFE Archiclima network, and 13 have completed vulnerability and risk assessments and accepted their adaptation plans. The final 11 facilities will also include museums, sports, and office facilities. Over 600 users have taken part in educational events, and 150 from management teams working at these facilities have been trained in a programme of workshops.  

Green solutions are tailor-made for the facilities, the most popular being native low greenery, shrubs and trees, vines/climbing plants on facades and pergolas, and rain gardens. Green roofs and walls, instead of asphalt, will bring surface temperatures down by 10°C, leading to less demand for cooling, and a 5% decrease in energy consumption. Boosting rainwater collection on sites by 10% will decrease a facility’s water consumption, and green planting is more absorbent for flash flooding. And in Poland, where commercial buildings must pay rainwater and drainage taxes, environmental improvements will bring such costs down by 15%.  

Speaking on the role of nature in architecture, “The idea is to change the way of thinking: nature so far treated as a threat becomes our ally in our way to regenerative living. There is a game change happening in architecture and urban designing. Nature-based solutions are game changers; they reverse the dominant mindset in designing. Nature knows best and gives us solutions. The designer’s job is not to spoil it,” said Łukasz Łapiński, the co-creator and director at LIFE Archiclima.  

Future passengers out of Katowice Airport will see its green transformation at the end of June 2024. The works include raingardens, a green wall from vines, pergolas, native tall greenery, meadows with native vegetation and the implementation of an ‘Archiclima Standard’ – a metric to maintain green areas and restore biodiversity on site.  

LIFE Archiclima is showing that climate and environmental responsibility is much more than carbon accounting, but a spectrum of everyday activities aimed at building climate resilience and biodiversity. The project aligns to the objectives of the EU Adaptation Strategy.