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Urban Canopee, Curiosity Lab’s Newest Occupant, Adds Greenery to Concrete Areas – Starting with Peachtree Corners
Peachtree Corners is the first place in the United States to receive an innovative and high-tech structure intended to cool down urban areas by greening them up. Called a corolle, the modular, vegetation-covered formation is the creation of French technology company Urban Canopee (urbancanopee.com), which has chosen Curiosity Lab of Peachtree Corners as its launch pad into North America.
The company learned about Curiosity Lab through the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta-Southeast and La French Tech Atlanta, which moved operations to the Innovation Center at Curiosity Lab in 2021. La French Tech is a French network of startups, investors, decision-makers, and community builders. This is the first startup joining Curiosity Lab through La French Tech.
Curiosity Lab increasingly attracts tech startups and larger technology organizations from around the globe. Many come to test their smart city and intelligent mobility solutions in a real-world environment, and/or in the case of Urban Canopee, to gain proximity to American markets that may have use of their particularly innovative technology.
“During our worldwide expansion, we wanted to come to the United States because so many of its modern, concrete-covered cities experience the urban heat island phenomenon. We can help tackle that issue with our green technology,” said Loïs Lenhardt, technical studies engineer for Urban Canopee. “The Atlanta area seemed like a good place to start.”
Peachtree Corners’ Town Center is also now home to a Mini Corolle – also called a Mini Canopee – from Urban Canopee. This product contains a steel-covered fiberglass base sprouting a mesh cylindrical, upward-and-outward-spreading canopy overlaid with climbing plants. When the plants mature, the Mini Canopee, equipped with its own irrigation system, will provide 215 square feet of shade to help create a cool place where summers are hot and provide additional biodiversity in the Town Center.
“Urban Canopee is committed to bringing vegetation to areas of cities where you could not plant trees because of underground networks, parking decks, subways, and areas covered in concrete,” said Lenhardt, who works at the offices of the French American Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta-Southeast, at Curiosity Lab’s Innovation Center.
Creating oases of freshness in cities
Increasingly long and intense heatwave episodes, growing air pollution, loss of biodiversity, and reduced availability of water are just some of the reasons why Urban Canopee aims to spruce up streetscapes while making cities cooler, more resilient, and more environmentally sustainable. Its technology-enabled low-carbon, energy, and water-efficient solutions are the company’s way to combat the effects of climate change while improving the quality of life for urban dwellers.
The company provides a range of structures from the Mini Canopee, with a low-tech irrigation system, to its 500-square-foot Contrario and Olympe Canopee models, both of which include a high-tech irrigation system called a Sensopee. The setup of a structure takes one day or less.
Introducing a high-tech, self-contained irrigation system
Before delving into the state-of-the-art Sensopee, each structure contains a small amount of substrate that relies on water to help the plants grow. The Mini Canopee’s passive watering reserve will need to be filled with close to two gallons of water a week – but doesn’t need to connect to the city’s water system.
The larger systems use the high-tech Sensopee, a smart irrigation system within the structure relying on sensors and weather-based technology to keep moisture levels optimal. Its algorithm optimizes the best conditions and water consumption to help plant roots grow. Urban Canopee employees monitor when soil is dry, and the water reserve is empty. When either or both occur, they text the customer that it’s time to refill the water reserve – about once a month during hotter seasons and once every two or three months when temperatures cool.
In addition to the one in Peachtree Corners, Urban Canopee has installed 164 other self-standing, autonomous green structures in 63 countries in Europe, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Australia.
Expanding its line of green products for urban areas
While in the states, Lenhardt hopes to generate interest and momentum so others will consider purchasing or offering the company’s canopies to customers. Potential partners include municipalities, landscape architecture firms, or any organization dealing with engineering greenspaces. In fact, Urban Canopee relies on such partnerships for its optional maintenance plans in which a local landscape company, for instance, would weed, mulch, fertilize, stake, and prune the plant structure three times a year.
In the next couple of years, Urban Canopee plans to use the same technology comprised in its corolles to add green, vegetation-covered roofs and facades to its line of products.
“Our canopies bring movable vegetation to urban areas and add significant value and a better quality of life,” Lenhardt said. “We hope to have several more of them in North America by the end of the year.”
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If you are interested in learning more about Curiosity Lab’s real-world testing environment or scheduling a tour, please reach out to us here. Testing is free and open to all technology companies from startups to Fortune 500.
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*Heat islands are found in urbanized areas that have higher temperatures than outlying areas. This is because city structures, including buildings, sidewalks, and roads, absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than forests, water bodies, and other natural landscapes.
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If you drive a ‘Little Deuce Coup,’ a ‘Little Red Corvette’ or nothing at all, the Ride Lounge in Peachtree Corners may be the club for you.
If you’re someone who’s so fascinated with automobiles that casual conversations often turn into treatises about torque, transmission overdrive, throttle linkage and tread squirm, the Ride Lounge, set to open this year in Peachtree Corners, might be your utopia.
Founders Dave Codrea and Josh Friedensohn have envisioned the spot as a unique car storage facility and social club designed for car enthusiasts and their families.
Once complete, the 18,000-square-foot building will have indoor storage for about 65 cars as well as lounge areas, a conference room/presentation area for members to do group events, a car detailing area and a bar.
“There will be plenty of room for social events and stuff,” said Codrea.
Pre-opening fundraiser
Even though the establishment’s interior wasn’t completed at the time, the guys kicked off the first weekend in February with the first charity fundraiser of many to come. Pedal Fest took place on Saturday, February 1, with proceeds going to the Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation.
Teams of three competed in pedal-powered drift trike races around a track set up in the parking lot.
“This is the kind of family-friendly stuff we like to do,” said Codrea. “We’ll probably have about one event a week — mostly related to different car events.”
The concept behind the Ride Lounge is more than just your old man’s garage. According to design firm Archie Bolden, the club will have “strategically integrated focal lighting throughout to enhance specific areas and create captivating visual focal points that invite visitors to explore highlighted zones or admire showcased feature cars.”
The look is described as masculine luxe with industrial accents.
Just a couple of gearheads
Codrea and Friedensohn don’t have anything to do with autos in their day jobs. They are partners in Greenleaf, a real estate company that buys, rehabilitates and manages long-term low-income residential properties and small business commercial properties to provide advancement opportunities for its residents, tenants, investors and communities.
“I started getting into cars when I was about 13 or 14 years old and as a little boy growing up with Hot Wheels,” Codrea said. “I got my first car, and I always enjoyed working on it. I took the whole engine apart and put in a turbo system. I’ve always loved cars.”
And he’s come across other “gearheads” who like to talk about cars, hang out around cars and work on cars as well.
So why a car club?
“You can do whatever you want to do with cars and it doesn’t matter what kind of car you have as long as it’s something you’re passionate about and like talking about it with other car people,” he said. “It’s a really good way to bring people together.”
Why here?
“That’s easy. I live in Peachtree Corners and I like it,” he said.
Building community
Codrea added that there’s so much diversity and growth that it’s kind of a no-brainer that there are many people who’d gravitate to the concept.
“Atlanta is a big city, but that also means there’s all sorts of interest in a lot of little segments,” he said. “You know what’s out there in cars and there’s definitely interest. As the area grows, we’re trying to bring people that like cars and their kids and families together.”
The storage spaces will allow owners to keep their prize possessions out of the elements or out the home garage in an environmentally-controlled area. But owning a car is not a requirement for membership in the club. There’s a level for just communing with like-minded individuals.
With so many “reality” shows based on restoration and enhancement, there’s no doubt that the interest is there. There’s a big screen ready for 24 hours of Le Mans, F1 races and anything else with a motor.
It looks like those with a passion for automotive performance have found their tribe.
To learn more about Ride Lounge or for early member access, visit ride-lounge.com.
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