Vertical forests to be an exciting addition to downtown

Goyeau Green Towers which will be located at 727 and 777 Goyeau St., will be a vertical forest which is a building covered in plants and greenery. 

“These vertical urban forests in the place of the (concrete) buildings, give off oxygen, that provide cooling through evaporation and even make a habitat for birds,” said Joseph Passa, the architect leading the project for Passa Architects. “you’re bringing nature to where there’s never usually been nature.” 

According to the Passa Architects website, that the building will absorb carbon, reduce pollution, buffer noise and provide cooling while enhancing the natural environment with biodiversity. 

Passa said his goal is to also make the apartments within the building affordable. 

“What I am trying to do is make the units smaller and make more of them so that we can hopefully have an economy to scale with them to make them affordable for people to live in with regular rents,” said Passa. “That’s the key to what I think I’m trying to do here in Windsor.”

Passa said his team is looking forward to the completion of the unique building here in Windsor. The tower will house 544 apartments with a landscaped podium for 548 cars.  

“If we proceed here it won’t start construction until the beginning of 2024 and take three years to build. It will take us a year to draw it which will be next year,” said Passa.  

Passa’s co-worker, David Rompf, said the project is ground-breaking and “something like this coming to Windsor could be a real game changer.” 

This project is an overall exciting boost to the downtown core that many in the area can look forward to, according to Rompf.