Ghent (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – “Building Biospheres” in Ghent uses 250 plants and trees to regulate indoor climate. Led by Professor Kathy Steppe, it features TreeWatch sensors and will be showcased at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Ghent, Belgium has a new project called “Building Biospheres.” According to the officials, it’s a special greenhouse that uses plants to create a comfortable climate inside. They used 250 plants and trees that are good at regulating temperature and humidity.
The project was tested during winter and it worked. The plants made the inside warmer and more stable than the outside. Officials mentioned that this project will be shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2025 to inspire architects and city planners to use nature in their designs.
We have chosen them very carefully to create a microclimate. Treewatch sensors can see if they feel good. If so, they sustainably regulate the temperature themselves,
says Steppe.
How is UGent’s building biospheres project redefining green architecture?
“Building Biospheres” uses special sensors to understand how the trees are doing. These sensors, called TreeWatch, measure things like how much water the trees use and how their size changes. This information is shown on screens. If the trees are healthy, the system adjusts the building’s climate to keep it sustainable. The team hopes this project will inspire cities to build structures that use plants to improve air quality, regulate temperature, and support more biodiversity.
We were able to try it out in the winter, successfully. It’s a lot more pleasant here than outside. We hope to inspire others
says Steppe.
The Venice Architecture Biennale, happening from May 10 to November 23, 2025. According to the officials, the Belgian pavilion will be a special place where people can see how plants can be used in buildings.
They mentioned that the project wants to encourage young designers to think differently about how nature can be used in buildings, especially in places like airports and train stations.
In early April 2025, the “Building Biospheres” project will be moved to Venice to be tested in a different climate for about 6 months. Officials mentioned that this is important because Venice is much warmer than where the project started in Ghent. If the project works well in Venice, it will show that using plants to control the climate in buildings can work in different places.
The team hopes that a successful test in Venice will make people more likely to use similar ideas in real buildings. They mentioned that this project could change how we build, showing that trees and plants can help control the temperature, humidity, and air quality in buildings. This could lead to cities that are greener and better able to handle changes in the environment.
Professor Kathy Steppe, a scientist who studies trees, invented a special tool called the TreeWatch sensor system. She first used these sensors on trees in Ghent, Belgium. Then, she used them in other studies in Belgium and around the world, from cities to deserts to tropical forests. She mentioned that this helped scientists learn how trees react to different environments.
