Edgware Road Tube Station Gets a Make-over

Photo courtesy: Bonnie Alter/CC BY 2.0

As my readers may have guessed by now, I am a huge fan of living walls. There are just so many reasons to love them - aesthetically pleasing; environmentally-friendly; soften the harsh non-caring feel of concrete; remind us we have roots other than our family; slow an overworked mind; delight the senses...

I am pleased to see that these walls are catching on all over the world; and, the projects are becoming larger and more varied.

Located at a busy, noisy and ugly intersection in downtown London, the new vertical garden, which is 180 sq.m. (1938 sq.ft.) in size, will cover one side of the Edgware Road Tube station. This living wall will ensure that it is not so ugly anymore. An ugly duckling will become a beautiful swan.

Photo courtesy: Bonnie Alter/CC BY-NC 2.0

Last week the finishing touches were added, in time for its unveiling this week.

Workmen from Biotecture, the company installing it, were just putting in the last plants. It is planted with a mixture of evergreen and perennial plants selected to survive in a roadside environment. Plants will also be selected for their ability to trap dirt particles.

Fewer dirt and dust particles along with the air-cleaning power of this wall will help alleviate some of the pollution at this corner. And, let's not forget that a marvelous living wall brimming with life and colour now stands where a nondescript, cold concrete wall once did.

Photo courtesy: Bonnie Alter/CC BY 2.0

Biotecture will experiment with a variety of plants having smaller leaves and different textures and growth habits to understand their ability to trap small particles. Plants in the wall include Munsted lavender, geraniums, lamb's ears, heuchera and veronica.

Plants will be grown in a peat-free substrate and the structure that supports the plants includes a waterproof backing called Ecosheet -- which is manufactured in the UK from recycled materials.

Photo courtesy: Bonnie Alter/CC BY 2.0

The wall will be monitored every week for dirt particle absorption from the traffic emissions. It is drip-fed twice a day. Using a SIM card, the Biotecture offices can monitor the irrigation from an off-site location.

It has been proved again and again that drip is the most effective and efficient watering system available. When a drip system is properly installed, it can save up to 30% of the water used.

The wall is part of a series of green measures the city is introducing in order to reduce pollution from traffic emissions.

The government has given Transport for London a grant from a new Clean Air Fund specifically designed to help London comply with legally binding European targets for reducing pollution.

In addition, there are plans for approximately 500 new street trees and shrubs to be planted at busy intersections.

Good on you, London! May you lead the way in green, living walls.

Madrid's Green Wall

Too bad more buildings aren't designed to let the green energy flow.

Photo courtesy: B. Alter via TreeHugger

Madrid's green wall is a veteran...it was designed by Patrick Blanc, who has created some of the most famous vertical gardens in Europe.

It was installed on an exterior wall of a former power station which was renovated by equally famous architects Herzog & de Meuron. The garden and the building have been braving the pollution, hot sun and elements for four years and the plants on the wall are still going strong.

Photo courtesy: B. Alter via TreeHugger

First the building: it was a former power plant built in 1899 and one of the few examples of industrial architecture left in the old section of the city. Caixa Forum is a cultural and arts centre that hired Herzog & de Meuron to convert the building and retain the industrial feel. A Swiss firm, they renovated the Tate Modern in London which was formerly a power plant as well.

Photo courtesy: B. Alter via TreeHugger

Their master stroke was to remove the base of the building so that it seems to hover over the ground. That created a large plaza which provides a place to sit and meet away from the burning sun. The building goes underground, for an auditorium, and three stories above with gallery space, shop and cafe. The rusted iron cladding on the top level has aged and corroded and is a warm bronze colour.

Photo courtesy: B. Alter via TreeHugger

The vertical garden, designed by Patrick Blanc, is 4 storeys high and takes up one outside wall, overlooking the plaza. It has 15,000 plants from more than 250 different species and most of it is flourishing.

There is an irrigation system which seems to be ongoing, given the gentle mist of droplets that emanates from the garden. The architects said that they wanted to "create a very unusual encounter between the rough and the natural, ...to incorporate nature so there can be the smell of a garden where you would not expect it."

The building, and garden are in the cultural quarter where the other famous museums are located. Caixa Forum has become an urban oasis in contrast to the more formal, and much older, buildings in the vicinity.

Via TreeHugger