Vertical Gardens in Public
Spaces!
Bengaluru has grown by leaps and bounds, from being a garden city to an IT city. What once was a pensioner’s paradise is now home to a floating crowd of IT professionals and Entrepreneurs.
The earliest version of a Vertical garden was patented by Stanley Hart White, a professor of landscape architecture in 1938, as a new method of “producing an Architectonic structure” wherein building facades are covered with growing vegetation. Unfortunately, his invention was not executed in his lifetime.
Source : https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/pont_max_juvenal_aix_en_provence_6.jpg?w=800&h=515
Bengaluru has grown by leaps and bounds, from being a garden city to an IT city. What once was a pensioner’s paradise is now home to a floating crowd of IT professionals and Entrepreneurs.
Massive expansion of the city also meant dwindling
ground coverage. Expanding vertically was a solution that saw high rises, both
commercial and residential, dot the cityscape.
An increased
awareness and interest in sustainable design and construction brought forth a
number of eco-friendly solutions, Vertical gardens being one of them.
The earliest version of a Vertical garden was patented by Stanley Hart White, a professor of landscape architecture in 1938, as a new method of “producing an Architectonic structure” wherein building facades are covered with growing vegetation. Unfortunately, his invention was not executed in his lifetime.
A framework supporting pot trays with growing medium or
fibrous growth media for plants, drip irrigation system, electrical system and
a drain bed largely constitutes a Vertical garden.
From
lowering Carbon footprint in the environment to creating calm and soothing
spaces and saving energy, the benefits of a Vertical garden are varied.
They act as -
·
Natural air-conditioners by lowering
the overall temperature of a building.
·
Sound absorption layers by cutting down
high frequency noise levels in its surroundings.
·
Air pollution reducing agents by
emitting out oxygen and filtering pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air.
·
Air purifying agents when used in
Interior spaces, by removing harmful VOC’s.
·
Health and Wellness promoters by providing
soothing environs thereby reducing stress levels.
Looking
around the world, where this Sustainable solution has been used for its
Aesthethic, Physiological and Economical advantages.
·
Tree
House Condominium - Bukit Timah, Singapore
A
24 storey green belt at this Condominium is a Guinness world record holder for
its sheer size.
·
Santalaia Building - Bogota, Columbia
Source : https://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/05/Santalaia-Vertical-Garden-5-889x552.jpg
The Santalaia building is completely covered with
Vertical garden, which is a lush layer of 85,000 plants that span 33,368 square
feet.
·
Nando’s Putney Kitchen restaurant,
London
Source : https://da28rauy2a860.cloudfront.net/outdoordesign.com.au/contents/5679/20171122124658_645.jpg
A
winner of the 2017 Bar and Restaurant Design Award, this
restaurant has a Vertical garden as a Feature wall. It is made up of
terracotta cells filled with a special substrate that stores water. A single pipe
located at the top provides necessary water that is evenly distributed by
gravity through a non-woven fabric.
·
Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport, Mumbai
With
a goal of being carbon neutral, this Airport has various measures in place. Vertical gardens are one of its efforts to Go
Green.
·
Vertical Gardens on Hosur Road Fly-over
Pillars, Bengaluru.
An
initiative of SayTrees, a NGO, these vertical gardens have around 3500 saplings
of more than 10 species. Each face is designed to look like different pieces of
art.
While
the above, are efforts on a large scale to help the environment, one could also
actively take initiatives to increase green cover, at a grass root level, in
our individual homes and communities.
That,
calls for another Blog. Until then, Go Green!
PRIYADARSHINI B S
PD DESIGNS
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