La Rioja Technology Center is a Glass Box Draped with a Living Green Curtain

We love <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/green-roof/">green roofs</a> (as you might have noticed), but we've been seeing some other, slightly more creative ways to keep a building cool using plants too. Case in point: La Rioja Technology Center in Spain. Designed by <a href="http://www.f-o-a.net/">Foreign Office Architects</a>, the entire building is a box of glass and steel enveloped in a canopy of climbing plants. Okay, it isn't quite "enveloped" yet, but in just a few years when the vines grow a bit more, they'll create a shaded microclimate around the structure that keeps the heat out and brings a taste of the region's famous vineyards in.

La Rioja Technology Transfer Center is a space dedicated to IT training, development and research.

Since the work that's being done inside the building can become very, well, technical, FOA wanted to maximize exposure to the outside by integrating the structure into the landscape.

One of the ways they accomplished this was by entwined <a href="http://inhabitat.com/living-green-curtain-made-of-morning-glories/">climbing plants</a> around a series of cables that have been stretched from the balustrades to a circular section fixed just above the ground all around the building.

The plants still need some time to grow though!

Within two years the plants will form a lush crosshatch-pattern canopy that provides <a href="http://inhabitat.com/luxury-residences-on-phuket-island-to-feature-modular-louvered-screens/">shade </a>for the interior.

One of the hallways that will have a view of the lush green canopy when it's fully matured.

In addition to the green canopy, there are other ways that occupants of the tech center can enjoy nature as well.

Terraces on the western side overlook an elm<a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/gardening/"> garden</a> and open-air ramps slope gently down towards the trees, creating flow between the architecture and the landscape.

An aerial view of the building site.

On the east side, a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/green-roofed-la-llotja-theater-takes-color-cues-from-the-fruits-of-spain/">cantilever</a> protects the fully-glazed façade from the sun.

A closer look at the cable system that will support the green curtain.

Most of the rooms have large, floor to ceiling windows.