The design, creation, systems and care of green or living walls
A new green wall I designed has been put up in the HQ of Lend Lease at the Elephant & Castle, London. It is situated in the company’s main reception foyer. It consists of a variety of plants in loosely vertical banding, including Begonias, Peperomia and Phlebodium (Blue Ferns). Everyone seems very pleased with it!
I’ve got to admit it; plants do something to me. When in their proximity, either indoors or out, things feel different. It could be because they change the air, giving me oxygen, removing pollutants and humidifying the atmosphere. It could be because they give me a subtle but direct contact with Nature. Maybe they talk
I was pleased to see the green wall panels I designed for the iconic new building at 28 South Molton Street (just off Oxford Street) in a article in the September issue of “On Office” magazine. Whilst the green wall content is small, with five high level panels and one at ground level, next to
Here’s a quick sneak-preview of the position of a new green wall I am creating around a column for Aveda Institute, High Holborn. Should be installed by the end of August… .
Another of my designs is installed, after a long series of delays and frustrations – but it looks like it was worth it! Another Biotecture project, nicely installed by Scotscape. The wall covers three sides of a large courtyard; I’ll get some better pics soon. I vertical and horizontal geometry overlays three wavy bands of
Another green wall I’ve designed has recently been installed at Nestle’s redesigned factory in Derbyshire. The wall is a Biotecture project, installed by Chris Rick (who’s photos I have merged together below): The design has sinuous, free-flowing bands of coloured foliage plants running along the length of it, as can be seen from this section
I’ve been reading several websites by visionary developers in Azerbaijan, who are proposing some massive Dubai-style developments to the Bay area of Baku, the country’s capital. One, the http://khazarislands.com/ seems like an ambitious Dubai-competitor, an ultra-sleek development on up to 30 artificial islands (think the Palm Jumeirah), the other is based on an existing island and
UPDATE 2017 A lot has changed since writing this article in 2013. I now work with Planters Horticulture to deliver living walls in the UAE, via my company Vertology Ltd —————————————————————————- I’ve just come back from Dubai again, following up on the Biowall green wall installer, Acacia LLC. Indoors it is much the same conditions
I have been asked what it costs to run a green wall; often, people imagine extreme costs and infra structure, so think a green wall can’t be justified on those grounds alone. The fact is, early systems were highly consumptive of water and electricity (ie felt based systems) but modern systems are not. I base
Last year some interesting work emerged over the use of green walls for mitigation of air pollution; in particular the ability (or otherwise) of plants to remove particulate matter from the air, with pm10 being the size range focussed upon. This is the particle size most emitted from diesel exhaust, and this does a lot