SUSTAINABILITY
ADDED GREENERY DOESN’T MEAN ADDED WORK
Paul Garlick, National Business Manager of Mobilane, the living installations specialists explain how they have made a Wrexham’s Village Bakery even sweeter by bringing the bees back, with their green walls.
There is a growing appreciation of technologies such as living walls as a way to add much needed greenery to our increasingly congested towns and cities. As green spaces such as verges, gardens and parks disappear there is a real need to look at other ways in which we can introduce plants, not only for their aesthetic benefits, but also for their health and wellbeing benefits. As well as absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, plants are important in helping to absorb airborne particulates and significantly reduce pollution. And of course they encourage insects and birds, vital to the health of gardens.
The concept of living walls is nothing new. The Greek historian Dionorus recorded a technically detailed description of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that described how the garden was built on tiers with vaults that carried the weight of planting. Today, growing familiarity with living technologies, along with vastly improved and more reliable systems means architects and designers are far more confident and are embracing the design flexibility of today’s living systems. Plus, there is a healthy community of installers and experts across the UK who bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience in both specification and installation, as well as offering comprehensive after-sales maintenance.
This means it is now very simple to have a stunning living wall installed. Not only that, but the latest systems are low maintenance and incorporate technologies that look after the plants so you don’t have to.
Installation of a Mobilane LivePanel living wall on the newly built Innovation
36 | TOMORROW’S FM
"I’m thrilled with the way the living wall has turned out. It's certainly got a lot of wow factor. It’s going to be a really nice place to work and to host customers and suppliers. We’re really proud of it."
“THE INSTALLATION DELIVERS A RANGE OF ADDITIONAL
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES INCLUDING RAINWATER HARVESTING AND HIGH LEVELS OF THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION.”
& Training Centre at Village Bakery in Wrexham has been recently completed as part of a plan to make the family-owned local business more sustainable. The green wall ties in with the company’s partnership with North Wales Wildlife Trust to create a six acre nature reserve on land purchased next to their bakery on a Wrexham industrial estate. As Christien Jones, Projects Director at Village Bakery explained: “We feel it’s really important that we invest in the future of the planet, and our new building makes a real statement about our commitment to the environment. Obviously, we need jobs and development but there’s no reason at all why they can’t go hand in hand with the world of nature. You really can have the best of both worlds."
The living wall was installed over a five-day period by Hedera Screens of Derbyshire and covers four storeys on the front of the building. A total of 72 square metres have been installed with a range of evergreen perennials and ferns which will ensure a beautiful and aromatic display of colour all year round. As well as delivering a stunning façade, improving air quality and attracting bees which, as we all know, are in decline, the installation delivers a range of additional sustainable features including rainwater harvesting, and additional high levels of thermal and acoustic insulation.
The big advantage of the LivePanel living wall system is; it’s modular, which means it is suitable for living walls of any size. The modules have a specially developed substrate designed to enable the plants to establish and thrive. The panels are stacked onto the face of a building or wall and secured by an aluminium frame. The feeding of the plants with water and nutrients is ensured by an integrated irrigation and drainage system. Once the system is installed the plants thrive and the system essentially manages itself, with only occasional periodic maintenance needed.
For the facilities manager looking to improve their site with more greenery, modern living wall systems offer a hassle-free way to achieve stunning results.
www.mobilane.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66
