During a recent excursion to Seattle I made a stop in Tacoma, Washington to check out the living wall by Patrick Blanc on the new Goodwill-Milgard Work Opportunity Center, designed by BCRA Architects. The installation measures 20 x 40 feet and was completed in September of last year. Like a piece of art there is prime space on the new building dedicated to the vegitated piece and it sits perfectly in line with the walkway up to the front door as well as being visible from the busy nearby street.

The wall sits just a couple feet off the ground so anyone can easily walk right up to it, in fact the sidewalk even encourages it. The wall is still new and therefore the plants are small so the fabric that covers the wall can plainly be seen. The fabric has been completely covered by a slimy green algae that in some places has been taken over by moss, much in the same way a typical rock face might look in a nearby forest or on the edge of a waterfall. This allows the wall to completely mimic those natural conditions that plants native to those types vertical surfaces would be accustomed to, and to provide a natural-like situation for those plants that don’t typically grow up in the air. The nutrient rich water that seeps down through the system to keep the fabric thoroughly saturated and feed the plant material is dispersed through a drip line along the top and middle of the wall. The excess water then simply drips from the bottom onto the gravel below.

The ability to walk right up to the wall allows for an easy close examination of the system involved. Even though I am quite familiar with the construction technique used in this style of living wall, it still continues to amaze me how little plants require for survival in a vertical system and how thin each layer really is. The roots are stripped of their potting soil from the nursery and inserted bare into the pockets that have been slit into 1/2 inch thick fabric layer and stapled into place.

With 96 different varieties of plants running in bands across the wall, it’s no surprise that a couple of them aren’t yet loving their new home but overall, it’s looking pretty good both from a distance and up close. What will really be interesting is to see how the wall continues to take shape when spring rolls around and how it grows together over the years and works itself out among the difference species. While I was wandering around, taking pictures and examing the system, an employee came up to talk to me. He was excited that I was so interested in the wall and told me that they are very proud of it, like the way it looks and look forward to watching it grow in the years to come. It was cool to hear the thoughts from someone who looks at this wall on a daily basis.

While the most visible edge of the wall is completely wrapped in fabric, the edge tucked into the corner of the building is open, revealing the metal structure that attaches the wall to the side of the building. This is the most interesting part in being able to walk right up to a vegetated wall, the ability to take a peek behind the scenes.

The lightweight metal structure holds the vegetated wall out about 6 inches from the building face, making the living wall a completely independant system and keeping any roots or water away from the architecture. On top of the metal structure is a plastic sheet, a layer of fabric mesh and then the fabric which holds the plants. The system in it’s entirety is about less than 1 inch thick. Staples can even be seen poking through the back of the plastic sheet. You can bet that I’ll definitely make more stops in the future to document the progress of this wall.

images (c) Lisa Town

After a lovely stroll through the south park blocks in downtown Portland in the late fall, I decided to wander over to the Hotel Madera to snap some pictures of the lovely courtyard designed by local landscape architecture firm Lango Hansen in conjunction with Holst Architecture on the upgrade of the old Days Inn to the new boutique Hotel Modera. The location of the new courtyard replaces what used to be a lifeless parking lot.

From the sidewalk, the trellis structure indicates the entrance point into the courtyard, doubling as a subtle welcome sign. The connection between the courtyard and the streetscape works well in that the courtyard feels like it’s own space and yet is still open and inviting enough not to feel uninviting to those passing by.

A wooden screen between courtyard space and sidewalk creates a feel of enclosure while allowing for the best urban activity of all, people watching. This is especially interesting given the public bus stop right outside.

Once inside, the wood decking leads up to the hotel entrance while a low wall lines the walkway to the left surrounding an outdoor dining area while the open area off to the right is an open, public space. Moveable seating mixed with permanent seating walls invite people to sit down and relax awhile. As the furniture would indicate, the seating walls could either be used for sitting or as a table.

The public space is madeup of a grid that overlays both the horizontal and the vertical space with hardscape, furnishings and planting which create patterns that move in and out of the grid. Patches of vegetation reach out from the vertical wall into the horizontal hardscape with sharp, angular edges that give it a clean, modern feel that meshes with the identity of the hotel. This design is the part that is so intriguing about this space, instead of creating a gridded living wall that simply because of product or budget limitations, this particular living wall not only fits perfectly within the design but enhances the idea of the fluid grid.

One might say that the vegitated wall looks too regimented unlike the walls of Patrick Blanc which run seamlessly without lines. But here, such a seamless style would not make sense and instead the vegetated tiles work perfectly. They even seem to float, almost giving off the sense that the viewer could move them about as they wished by simply pushing them around.

Metal edging details the planting areas, separating them from the precast paving tiles. Some plants are clipped and manicured to remain within the square and rectangular spaces while others, like the soft grasses, are allowed to flop outside the lines.

A rough rock slab and gravel pathway move through lush, vegetated squares that bring the viewer close to the living wall amongst the ferns and grasses. Here one can touch and look closely at the vegetated tiles that make up the wall.

I believe the vegetated wall panels are the Green Wall Panels by G-Sky. These are pretty cool products that make it easy for even the vegetated architecture novice to achieve good results. The designer can select a palette of plants that fits in with their design, G-Sky will then plant the tiles for them. Pretty simple and easy. Here it looks like they are planted with a mix of dirt inside of fabric pouches and moss has filled in some gaps around some of the smaller plants. Drip irrigation is then added behind the system and here it is allowed to drip freely out the bottom and drain into the nearby planter bed.

This plaza has successfully managed to blend the feel of the richly vegetated Pacific Northwest with the clean lines of modern architecture while bringing in a cool element of new technology within landscape architecture. While this space was rather empty in these pictures, I’m certain that it’s just because it had recently rained and it was bitterly cold out. I can only imagine that on a sunny day this space would be full. I’ll make sure to visit again to capture this space on one of those days.

images (c) Lisa Town

A recent post about the living wall at the cafe at Nike in the Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City displayed one example of the many lush vegetated walls that are popping up around Mexico City from Verde360.

Verde360 is a Mexico City-based compay founded in 2006 that specializes in the design and construction of living walls in urban settings. The members are on a mission to contribute to the greening of large cities by way of innovative green technologies like living walls. They’ve sent me images of some of the walls they have completed around their city which are truly inspiring in their lushness, variety and success. At the end there is also a sneak peak of a project for 2010.

First, expanding upon the previous post, some images from the cafe courtyard at the Nike sportsware store in the Condesa neighorhood of Mexico City, built in August of 2008. The mounding was built specifically for the green wall which covers 180 square meters. The space is open to the public.

The next wall resides in the open central courtyard in a private Mexico City home apartment. Built in 2008, the abundantly vegetated living wall measures at 4 meters in length and 5 meters high and receives natural light.

The following images are from the outside of the Restaurant Solotto in the trendy Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City. This wall which runs from the public sidewalk to the top of the building was built in February 2009 and covers 82 square meters of this east-facing building facade.

On the terrace floor of the Restaurant Solotto, there are two living walls covering 21 square meters as well as a vegetated multi-story column inside the restaurant that reaches 15 meters high and is lit from the below.

In Mexico City’s Sante Fe Shopping Mall, Verde360 have designed a lush display wall for the Steve Madden retail store. This double-sided indoor living wall is 6 meters in height and 2.5 meters in width with artificial lighting.

In a private home in San Angel, Mexico City, this 2.5 meter wide wall of vegetation reaches up 6.5 meters in a sunny courtyard. The living wall is south facing with lots of natural light and was built in February 2007. I love the huge ferns and the way some of the plants defy the boundaries of the wall.

In the Benito Juarez International Airport, the Mexicana Airline proudly displays their support for the vertical greening of Mexico City with a 20 meter long living wall in their check in lounge that sits 2.7 meters in height. Artifical lighting adds to the effect.

At the International Airport of Toluca, a city just outside of Mexico City, this living wall displays the logo of a company at their private hanger. The double sided wall was built in May 2009 and sits 14 meters long and 4 meters high. This wall displays a very different character from many of their other designs. Instead of flowing clusters of plants these plants are confined to a rigid design in order to exhibit a company logo. The plant choices here therefore are different and yet just as beautiful.

In another private home in San Angel, this living wall integrated with a 2.5 meter wide water feature and pool was built in April 2008 and reaches to the top of the building at 6.5 meters high.

And finally a future project for 2010 has Verde360 working on greening an intriguing structure for the El Volador Market in the Mexico City center. It will be interesting to see this project unfold.

Below are some images from their mobile test wall done for the Mexican Government for the El Volador market project. This wall was built in August 2009 at the office building of the authorities of the historic center of Mexico City. The test wall is 4 meters wide and 6 meters high.

images via verde360

One of the UK’s longest living walls at 170 meters in length can be found at the Westfield Shopping Centre in West London. Designed by EDAW (now AECOM), this 4.5 metere high north-facing wall lines the southern pedestrian approach to the shopping mall.

From the original EDAW press release,“Westfield London incorporates a modular living-wall system manufactured by Canadian firm ELT and planted by Aldingbourne Nurseries. The living wall is constructed from modular plastic panels. Each section is approximately 50cm high by 50cm wide by 8cm deep, is subdivided into 45 cells and can be stacked to the required height and width.”

ELT is Elevated Landscape Techonologies based out of Canada and the developers of the Easy Green System used in this wall. This system is essentially a tray system attached to the which have the plants growing in soil. Somewhat like turning nursery trains on their side. The plants are then watered from the top down via a hidden drip irrigation style system. The plant palette for the wall consists primarily of native woodland plants with ferns as the dominant fixture.

Some living walls like to recapture the water that is then dripping out from the bottom of the system. Others like to just go ahead and let it drip. This particular wall has done an interesting thing and designed a decorative water feature at the base which also combines to create a flowing seating wall. It’s a nice touch. However I don’t know for sure if the water from the wall is allowed to flow into the system or not but it looks as though they are kept separate with the wall falling a bit behind the water feature.

images via landscapeisqashu, hotspotting, landscapeisdeb

Tucked away in an alley near Avenida Cinco de Mayo and Calle Palma within the historic district of Mexico City, a large and abundantly planted living wall is thriving. And even more than a lush vertical greening system, this wall seems to be a piece of art as well. Woven in amongst the multi-colored vegetated stripes appears to be a dragon. This wall is downright fun.

The plants on the wall seem to be thriving in Mexico City’s climate and have been planted in some sort of unidentified container system that is attached in some way to the side of the existing building with what I can only guess are a few layers between the plants and the actual building face. Why this particular building was chosen, I don’t know but according to Erika Richmond, a designer from Vancouver, B.C. who happened upon the wall on accident while visiting the historic district, said that the shop owners told her that it was built by the municipal government. Designer and installation date unknown. Having been all over the historic district several times myself, the last time in the fall of 2007, I know I would’ve found it if it were there. That means I am going to make a guess that it was installed sometime in the last two years.

Given the information of being built by the municipal government, that leads me to think that this is part of Mexico City’s Plan Verde. Plan Verde is the municipal governments plan to green the city as a way to not only attack the serious air quality issues within the valley and the massive flooding during the rainy season but to also raise the quality of living for the people through enhanced public transportation and bike pathways. Perhaps this wall is a test wall by the government as part of Plan Verde, which might be why it’s hidden down an alley instead of out in a more open viewing area with informational signage to educate the public. I’ve been following along with Plan Verde prior to discovering this wall and will write more on that in a future post.

The wall maintains a hidden drip irrigation system that is then caught in a gutter at the bottom. This is rather important since people walk underneath the wall to enter and leave the shops that are open for business beneath the living wall. No business wants their customers to be dripped on. But it’s got to be pretty cool to step into a little place under the green wall to grab some lunch. I wonder how many other green walls are out there, hidden away where hardly anyone sees them or knows that they exist?

images via mfree, rhys, erika richmond, sas17, buildgreenman

I recently came across these photos on Flickr but can’t find any information on what this place is. The captions on the photos seem to indicate that this is a courtyard for a place called Café Nike in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. From what I can tell from the photographs, it looks like it may be a cloth pocket style wall as opposed to units. It looks pretty lush and not brand new.

images via OmarOmar

I had to share this funny ad that I came across which seems to be using a living wall to promote a new women’s deodorant product from Rexona called Naturals. It’s probably fake leaves, I can’t tell for sure but either way, it’s funny how the idea of vertical greening is catching on even in the advertising world. The advertising agency was Lowe Ginkgo in Montevideo, Uruguay and came out in September 2009.

images via adsoftheworld

Last night my husband happily showed me a page in his Time Magazine, proud of himself for knowing who it was about, that displayed Patrick Blanc’s living walls as number 31 on the magazines 50 Best Inventions of the Year. It was accompanied by a photo of the recent Athenaeum Hotel in London.

Here’s the original text from Time, “Patrick Blanc specializes in vertical gardens: verdant patches that climb the walls of office buildings, shopping malls, museums and public spaces around the globe. His newest creation is the green-bearded exterior of the Athenaeum Hotel, on which some 260 species of plants (more than 12,000 in all) form a forest facade rising eight stories over London’s ritzy Mayfair district. Recognizing that not all plants need soil to grow, Blanc affixes synthetic felt to a frame onto which roots can cling. Part gardener, part botanist, Blanc uses automated irrigation and fertilization systems to keep his specimens healthy and arranges them so that each enjoys optimal growth conditions.”

And here’s an interview with the quirky and even then green-haired Patrick Blanc I found recently from back in 2007. It was conducted by a British interviewer and they even make reference to the future Athenaeum Hotel in saying that one of his designs was planned for London.

The Morristown Building in New Jersey, headquarters for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has installed a 3-story vegetated wall, or “bio-wall” as they are calling it. With 38 ft in height and 14 ft wide, the system was built to assist with internal air filtration in addition to it’s luscious looks. The plants have been inserted into pouches slit into the air and water permeable media without the use of soil. The built system is similar to the construction of Patrick Blanc-designed living walls. The plants are watered by water slowly cascading through the system from the top to the bottom where it is caught in a trough and then pumped back up to the top.

images via Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

The wall doesn’t just rely on the tropical plants and hydroponics system to passively pull toxins out of the air. The vegetated system has been constructed in conjunction with the HVAC system that sits behind the wall such that the air can be pulled directly through the wall media, allowing the roots to actively filter the VOC’s and carbon dioxide. Since the system takes advantage of recycled air, there is no need to re-cool or re-heat the air as it passes through the system. The air is returned to rooms through the raised floor duct system.

This experimental ventilation and heating system based on natural systems is also part of the Dodge Foundation’s support of biophilia research. A video below explains more about the bio-wall…

At 8 stories tall, rising from the street of Piccadilly to the top of the penthouse, the new green wall designed by Patrick Blanc for The Athenaeum Hotel is London’s tallest living wall. In addition to 12,000 plants making up the vertical artistic greenery, the wall hosts the world’s biggest collection of Urticaccae chosen from countries in Asia which will thrive within the shade of the ground level.

From hotels website: “Using his pioneering planting techniques, Patrick Blanc has created another spectacular Living Wall at The Athenaeum. It uses more species of plants than any other Vertical Garden in the UK – including the world’s biggest single collection of Urticaceae. Patrick carefully collected the different species from dripping warm locations all over East Asia. Next, he propogated the plants in a nursery in the South of France then inserted the roots into the specially constructed, irrigated felt at The Athenaeum.”

Patrick Blanc’s latest work of art in the heart of London near Hyde Park features both native species as well as tropical ones that have been chosen for their ability to thrive in a climate that is similar to that of the microclimate on the hotel wall. Noteworthy plants include Begonias, Fuchsias, Impatiens, Iris, Ficus, many species of nettles and one of my personal favorites, the maidenhair fern.

images via atheneumhotel.com