Designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, the Pritzker Prize winner’s first in Lima, Real Dos is a mixed-use commercial building of 24,000 square meters that brings together offices, restaurants and retail outlets. As part of the Centro Empresarial Real complex of approximately 7,000 m² of total leasable area distributed in nine buildings, the mid-rise Real Dos building is surrounded by other contemporary buildings.

Real Dos is a work of adaptation and uniqueness. Located in Lima’s San Isidro district – the heart of commercial activity in Peru, the Real Dos tower is spread over 23 levels (14 floors and 9 basements) and enjoys the amenity of a verdant roof garden at the building’s crown and many full-height exterior vertical gardens at its stepped ground level.

The building is linked to the formal diversity of the environment and is differentiated by its lightness and color. As is customary, Jean Nouvel studied the culture of the country, and in this case he was inspired by the lively colors of Peruvian handicraft fabrics. The result is a striking glass envelope covered with bright mobile multi-colored panels, which the architect says is “thereby revisiting the chromatic aesthetic of Peru.”

Along with its iconic glass facade with colorful movable blinds, Real Dos has four fronts designed for natural light, green walls on the three main fronts, and a garden roof. 

Nine floors, or 8,500 square meters, are leased by the company WeWork, a world leader in shared work spaces.

Ateliers Jean Nouvel worked with ARVE Perú on the overall landscape plans of the Real Dos tower. Designed, installed, and maintained by ARVE Perú, approximately 13,000 plants representing over 20 species were planted on the Real Dos Living Walls.

The ARVE Vertical Garden system was used. Consisting of modular aluminum panels, they include pockets of a non-woven geotextile 030 and 040 with a controlled, automated irrigation system using 20 plants per square meter. ARVE was in charge of specifying the landscape proposal for Atelier Jean Nouvel, according to the available local plants in Lima. The landscape plan for Real Dos was beautiful because it was based on a diversity of colors and organic shapes.

Returning reflections of its own striking glass envelope covered with multi-colored panels inspired by Peru’s rich textile history and beautiful vegetative surfaces onto its neighbors’ glass-clad facades, the Real Dos is a plant oasis in the midst of commercial-area Lima.

See the Project Profile for the Real Dos Roof Garden in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.