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Dense cities rarely leave much room for outdoor space. As buildings rise higher and sites become tighter, greenery is often pushed to the edges of developments or isolated on rooftops far removed from everyday use. To accommodate density and control environmental impact, architects often design large buildings as sealed objects. These projects prioritize efficiency over openness and can leave urban environments feeling enclosed and disconnected from nature.
However, some architects are approaching this differently. Instead of stacking buildings flat, they use terraced massing. They bring greenery closer to people by distributing it upward through the architecture itself. These moves create visual relief and open the sky back into dense urban environments. They also allow light and air to move more freely in and around buildings.
The following projects serve as practical examples of how terraced massing allows greenery to accompany the buildings as they go higher and higher in high-density developments.
Valley
By MVRDV, Amsterdam, Netherlands
MVRDV designed this mixed-use project to combine offices and apartments within three high-rise towers. They lined the outer edges of the complex with smooth mirrored glass to maintain the existing corporate street aesthetic of the business district. Inside this glass shell, the architects used terraced massing to create a stepped natural stone facade that forms a public walkway. They filled these stone terraces with 271 trees and 13,500 smaller plants, selecting specific species that climb higher along the structure based on local wind and sunlight conditions.
1000 Trees Phase 1
By Heatherwick Studio, Shanghai, China
Heatherwick Studio designed this mixed-use retail development to challenge the monolithic mass typical of large commercial buildings. Instead of treating it as one continuous block, the architects used terraced massing to break the project into stepped landforms. They extended the structural columns beyond the façade and turned them into elevated concrete planters. They then filled these planters with more than 1,000 trees and 250,000 plants that spread across the terraces and move through the building from top to bottom.
PARKROYAL on Pickering
By WOHA, Singapore
WOHA Architects built this hotel on a narrow site next to a public park. They arranged the twelve-story tower into an E-shaped layout so the guest rooms face the trees. For the five-story base, the team used terraced massing made of stacked, wavy concrete layers. The architects filled these concrete ledges with pools, tropical plants and palm trees. They also extended green sky-gardens out between the room blocks on every fourth floor. This stepped structure makes the hotel gardens look like a direct continuation of the nearby urban parkland.
VIA 57 West
By BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Manhattan, New York
Bjarke Ingels Group designed this residential building by combining the layout of a European courtyard block with the height of a Manhattan high-rise. They kept three corners low and lifted the northeast corner to create a sloping form. This move created a distinctive form of terraced massing across the south-facing roof. The architects cut terraces and balconies into the slope and placed a large shared garden at the center of the building. This open courtyard pulls more sunlight and fresh air into the development and gives residents outdoor space within a dense urban setting.
Marina One
By Gustafson Porter, Marina Bay, Singapore
The architects designed this mixed-use complex around four high-rise towers. They wanted to connect air-conditioned interiors with shaded outdoor spaces. The team aligned the outer facades with Singapore’s city grid. However, they carved the inner faces into terraced massing that mimics East Asian rice fields. At the center, they placed a reflecting pool to draw people into the courtyard. A sequence of garden decks guides visitors upward. Finally, the architects used climbing vegetation on the upper levels to hide mechanical infrastructure. This keeps the building core open to light and breezes.
Oasia Hotel Downtown
By WOHA, Tanjong Pagar, Singapore
WOHA Architects designed this skyscraper to bring more greenery into Singapore’s dense city center. Instead of treating the tower as one continuous block, the architects used terraced massing to divide it into sections for offices, hotel rooms, and shared spaces. Between these sections, they carved out large open-air sky gardens that act like outdoor floors in the building. The team wrapped the tower in red aluminum mesh and planted 21 species of climbing vines across it. They also replaced the typical flat roof with a rooftop garden filled with tropical plants.
The Spiral
By BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, New York
At The Spiral, BIG uses terraced massing to rethink the typical sealed office tower. Instead of limiting outdoor space to the roof, the architects wrap planted terraces around the building as it rises. Each setback becomes part of a continuous path of gardens that connects all 66 floors. These outdoor spaces bring the landscape closer to everyday work and carry the green character of the nearby High Line upward through the tower.
Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work by uploading projects to Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.
Oasia Hotel Downtown 
PARKROYAL on Pickering 
The Spiral 
