San Isidro, Lima (FUA), Peru
City population: 11391137
Duration: 2015 – 2018
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 3527 m2
Type of area: Central Business District / City Centre, Building
Last updated: May 2025

Located in the Lima district of San Isidro - the heart of commercial activity in Peru - the Real Dos Tower is a prime office building in the Centro Empresarial Real de San Isidro. It was inaugurated in 2018, and it is distributed over 23 levels (14 floors and 9 basements) and enjoys a landscaped green roof (1162 m2) at the crown of the building and numerous outdoor vertical gardens at full height (2365 m2) on the three main fronts (1, 4). This project was a finalist in the 2018 Mipim Awards, considered the ‘Oscars’ of world architecture, and stood out for its architecture and design, due to its attributes of innovation and sustainability (2). This building has managed to create harmony between design and efficient use of resources. It is characterised by a glass façade with colourful movable shutters and symbolic Peruvian designs (2, 3, 6). It has green walls on the three main fronts, four daylight fronts and a roof garden (2). The architect, Jean Nouvel, worked together with ARVE Peru on the overall landscape plans for the Real Dos tower (1, 3). This is part of the façade remodelling project of the Camino Real Towers in the Real Business Centre, led by the real estate company Grupo Centenario (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). This overarching Project has sought to develop 4,475 m2 of vertical gardens and roof gardens, which have a technified irrigation system to generate efficiencies in water use, meeting the plants' water requirements in the different seasons of the year. Their implementation helps to filter CO2 and renew the O2 in the office complex. The ARVE group describes these actions as conducive to creating thermal barriers and sound insulation, a better environment for rest, work and entertainment and increasing property value (7)

View of a corridor surrounded by green walls in the Royal Tower 2
Green walls in the Royal Tower 2
ARVE Peru

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green roofs
  • Green walls or facades

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Climate change mitigation
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Noise reduction
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Improving mental health

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Climate-Related Hazards
  • Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
  • Environmental Degradation
  • Air pollution
  • Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
  • Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)
  • Mental health issues (stress, anxiety)

Key priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of green roofs and walls

Project objectives

Promote urban planning as a fundamental mechanism for the growth of cities that offer quality of life, with a vision of sustainable cities (5). Develop public spaces and green areas that are made available to the community (5). Seek ways to reduce emissions and waste, and along the way, optimise the use of resources (5). Encourage the generation of economic and social links between people (5). Filter CO2 and renew O2 in the office complex spaces (5). Create thermal barriers by regulating the interior temperature and reducing the use of artificial resources. Generate acoustic insulation that reduces the noise impact of the city inside a building. Generate a better environment for rest, work and entertainment (7) Build green spaces that promote the reduction of daily stress and increase people's productivity and morale (7) Increase the value of the property (7)

Implementation activities

The walls of the tower façade were designed, and plants were installed on the three main façades, as well as a roof garden. Approximately 8,500 plants representing more than 25 drought-tolerant species were planted on the over 5600 square-foot Real Dos Roof Garden. Approximately 13,000 plants of 20 species were planted on its almost 4,000 square feet of different Greenwall (1) The installation used modular aluminium panels, including 030 and 040 non-woven geotextile bags, with a controlled and automated irrigation system with 20 plants per square metre (1). ARVE was in charge of specifying the landscape proposal for the Atelier Jean Nouvel, according to the local plants available in Lima. The landscaping plan for Real Dos was based on a diversity of colours and organic shapes, which fit with the façade design around the Peruvian identity (1). All green areas in the commercial tower are automatically irrigated with recycled wastewater (3).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation

Climate change mitigation:

  • Install vertical or horizontal artificial surfaces that help with carbon storage and cooling

Main beneficiaries

  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown
  • The project didn't involve any form of stakeholder participatory activities

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Grupo Centenario: initiator and financier of the project (2) Ateliers Jean Nouvel worked with architect Marco Pacheco Meléndez of ARVE Perú on the overall landscape plans (2, 3) Associated architect: Alberto Medem, Humboldt Arquitectos (3) Local architect: Miguel Rodrigo P.A. Arquitectos (3) General contractor: Graña y Montero (3) Project Management and Construction Supervision: PMS DRS Ingeniería y Gestión (3) Greenroof & living wall design, construction & maintenance: ARVE PERÚ (3) Greenroof system: SOPRANATURE: SOPREMA (3) Greenwall system: ARVE VERTICAL GARDEN (3)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? No
... a national policy or strategy? No
... a local policy or strategy? No

Type of enablers

Technological innovations

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Corporate investment

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

No

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Achieved increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Achieved increased number of species present

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Achieved improved access to urban green space
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved mental health
  • Expected improved mental health
  • Enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Expected enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Promotion of cultural diversity
  • Achieved promotion of cultural diversity

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Unknown

References

1.
Greenroofs.com (2021). Real Dos Living Walls. Accessed on September 11, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Schindler (2018). Real 2 es seleccionado como el mejor edificio de oficinas de América Latina. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Velazquez, L. (2021). Featured Project: Real Dos. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Centenario Oficinas (n.d.). Centro Empresarial Real. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Grupo Centenario (2018). Memoria Anual 2022 Inversiones Centenario S.A.A. y Subsidiarias . Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Revista Gana Más (2015). Inician obras de Real 2 en el Centro Empresarial Real de San Isidro. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
7.
ARVE Perú (n.d.). ARVE Perú Homepage. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
8.
San Isidro Municipality (2020). Compedio Estadístico 2020. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
9.
San Isidro Lima (n.d.). San Isidro - Distrito Limeño en Perú. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
10.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (2020). Planos Estratificados de Lima Metropolitana a Nivel de Manzana 2020. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
11.
Greenroofs.com (n.d.). SOPREMA. Accessed on September 12, 2024, [Source link];
View of the flowers on the roof garden of the Royal Tower 2
View of the flowers on the roof garden of the Royal Tower 2
ARVE Peru
View of the flowers on the roof garden of the Royal Tower 2
View of the flowers on the roof garden of the Royal Tower 2
ARVE Peru
View of one of the green walls in the Royal Tower 2
Green wall in the Royal Tower 2
ARVE Peru
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.