Italian architect Stefano Boeri, best-known for his ‘Vertical Forest’ tree-lined towers, is launching a division of his practice dedicated to interior and product design, he has told CLADglobal.

SBA Interiors will also deepen Boeri’s research into sustainability and ways in which to make spaces better for human health and wellbeing.

The decision to start the new branch of his firm, Stefano Boeri Architetti, follows the Italian’s involvement in three interior projects in China: the Sino-Italy Design Center in Lize, a commercial complex in Shanghai, and a renovation of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The latter saw the studio preserve the historic architectural landmark, while significantly altering its interior circulation and bringing in elements of its Vertical Forest ethos to create a green public landmark “unlike anything else in Chinese cities.”

“We were confronted with a building that stands as a testimony of the transition of Chinese culture from its rural condition to urban complexity,” Boeri told CLADglobal/ “As a renewal project, there were many urban implications, with the aim to give back to the city a historic building while transforming it into a space with public value.

“The process of intervention was similar to acupuncture, touching strategic areas, such as the courtyard and inserting particular industrial elements into the corridors, leaving historical traces visible in the finishing of the spaces.

“The most powerful operation was to insert the notion of “void” through the typological transformation of the former plateau, where the main operations of the stock exchange were held, into a gardened courtyard, a space of decongestion that is rare in Chinese cities.”

Boeri revealed that the success of the project helped inspire the creation of SBA Interiors, which is already working on a number of projects, including a school and library and further public spaces.

“More than being an expansion into the world of interior design, this is a matter of seizing an opportunity to take on new challenges,” he said. “We always try to have a holistic approach towards architecture, and subsequently to the variety of disciplines that are part of it.”

Meanwhile, the main arm of his firm is continuing work on several major architectural projects in both Europe and Asia – including forested towers in Utrecht, Nanjing, Paris, Tirana, Shanghai and Liuzhou.

They are also organising the first World Forum on Urban Forests, which will take place in Mantova, Italy, from 28 November to 1 December to kickstart “a global campaign on urban forestry in order to multiply the presence of forests and trees in our cities.”