Greenhouse is a 4,000SF nightclub, lounge and event space built from recycled 
or recyclable materials, Greenhouse is the first nightclub in the nation to receive 
certification  via  LEED_CI  by  the  United  States  Green  Buildings  Council  for  its 
environmentally conscious construction and design. 
I decided to stay away from re-creating a greenhouse, and opted to transpose 
the notion of landscape to an interior space. The design concept was to convey 
the  dynamic  richness  of  nature  as  a  living  system.  The  walls  connect  to  the 
ceiling via a series of laser-cut ribs creating a shelter within the space. The ribs are 
lined  with  series  of  6”  round  panels  organized  in  a  self-similar  and  recursive 
pattern  generated  through  a  fractal  algorithm.  One  third  of  these  panels  are 
upholstered  with  eco-friendly  vinyl,  one  third  of  them  are  clad  in  sustainable 
boxwood. The rest is lacquered and each disk houses an L.E.D. light point of 0.8 
watts.  The  light  points,  in  total  2,500,  are  all  connected  to  custom  designed 
software  which  allows  for  maximum  lighting  flexibility.  These  LED  pixels  can 
describe effects which can derive from music beats or video signals. The resulting 
goal is to offer the experiential opportunity of a “live” landscape. 
The ceiling is an organic formation of 40-millimeter crystals representing a body 
of  water  about  to  project  onto  the  ground…  and  the  sudden  character  of 
nature. The crystals are seemingly passively appended, but slightly vibrate in the 
music  and  vividly  respond  to  the  green  lasers  and  the  LED  on  the  walls  and 
ceiling. 
The tables are a quirky presence in the overall scheme. They are tempered glass 
boxes  containing  boxwood  covered  wireframes  shaped  as  different  animals 
resting on a carpet of eco-friendly, artificial grass. 
The bar is a scale model of a gently sloping landscape punctured with miniature 
trees and scale models of house I designed in the past. The model is seemingly a 
straight cut through the crust of the earth. 

The main challenges in a LEED_CI certification process for commercial interiors is 
retrofitting  existing  systems  to  meet  strict  efficiency  requirements.  I  set  out  to 
achieve the same aesthetic freedom and quality while making the intervention 
ecologically acceptable. The following are a few example…  
a.  The  substantial  ductwork  needed  to  provide  the  LEED  required  all-fresh  air-
intake is hidden above the laser-cut ribs folding from the walls onto the ceiling.  
b. The LED pixels on the walls and ceiling are not usually suitable for illumination 
as  they  are  0.8W/bulb.  By  arranging  them  on  both  walls  and  ceiling,  we  were 
able  to  stay  within  the  low  wattage  per  square-foot  allowed  by  the  LEED 
parameters, and achieved sufficient illumination by spreading them throughout 
the venue. The 5,000 40-millimeter crystals hanging from the ceiling further help 

as  they  reverberate  all  lighting  present  in  the  venue.  The  estimated  savings  in 
electrical consumption are estimated to be approximately 60%. 
c. Nightclubs are venues with extremely high consumption of water, as patrons 
use  the  restrooms  multiple  times  over  the  course  of  their  stay.  This  is  further 
worsened by the high turn-over of this kind of hospitality venue. Waterless urinals 
and  dual  flush  toilets  were  installed  to  achieve  water  savings  of  about  150,000 
gallons per year. 
d. Thanks to its relative tenderness, the bamboo flooring cladding the walls [and 
naturally the floor] is used as an alternative to other non-environmentally sound 
dampening devices. The product used in Greenhouse was installed on a furred 
wall  in  which  the  stable  air  adds  to  the  insulation.  Bamboo  is  a  mainstream 
“green” material, its application in this project is technically innovative.