Floating green skyscrapers proposed for London, New York and Shanghai

Dutch practice Waterstudio.NL has designed an eco skyscraper which it believes could help restore biodiversity to some of the world’s most intensively developed cities.

The Sea Tree is a floating nature reserve consisting of tiered platforms hosting habitats for different kinds of wildlife, from fish to birds and insects. They would be inaccessible to humans.

It can be moored to the bed of any river, lake or sea by cables, with its exact height and configuration depending on the location.

The practice is trying to persuade oil companies to sponsor a$4.5 million Sea Trees in cities where they work, to show their commitment to the environment. The design was inspired by offshore oil platforms.

Mahtab Akhavan, from Waterstudio.NL, said Sea Trees could be built in the rivers of London, New York and Shanghai.

She added: “New initiatives for adding extra parks to a city are rare. Yet these kind of additional habitats for birds, bees, bats and other small animals could bring a lot of positive green effects to a city’s environment.

“The beauty of the design is that it provides a solution and at the same time does not cost expensive space on land, while the positive effect of the species living in the sea tree will be felt for several miles around the moored location.”