Das BARTLETT- ein blau-grünes Beschattungselement mit Photovoltaik und Regenwasserintegration

Urban areas face significant challenges due to climate change, including increased temperatures and intense precipitation, worsened by dense buildings and sealed surfaces. Heat is a growing risk, prompting the study of nature-based solutions (NbS) for adaptation. Urban spaces are valuable and scarce, needing to serve multiple purposes such as climate adaptation, renewable energy implementation, and meeting the demands of a growing urban population.
To find solutions the projekt “Volkert macht blau” is dedicated to the challenge of creating publicly usable, climate-active spaces - where conventional greening measures - such as tree planting - reach their limits. In a multidisciplinary consortium the concept of the so-called “BARTLETT” was developed: a modular, green lounge with a photovoltaic roof that combines rainwater management, energy generation and climate-active greenery in one system. Each BARTLETT module consists of a central pillar anchored in a concrete foundation. Around this foundation is a root-permeable, water-permeable root space into which rainwater can be fed - in keeping with the sponge city principle. The area under the module is paved and open for various uses - as a seating area, meeting place or temporary market stall. A key element of the system is the photovoltaic roof, which generates electricity and at the same time provides protection from the rain and sun. Various climbing plants that are compatible with urban climates climb on the umbrella-like ropes under the roof. To protect the PV modules from overgrowth, a distance of around one meter is maintained from the vegetation.
The BARTLETT represents a new generation of street furniture: functional, modular and ecologically effective. It creates a quality of stay, stores rainwater, produces renewable energy and at the same time offers a microclimate that reduces heat and promotes biodiversity - especially in places where the ground does not allow trees to be planted. Due to its modular design, it can be flexibly adapted to different urban planning situations and integrated into existing open space concepts.