Old Street City Cloisters Landscape Maintenance

- Article
- Living wall
- Maintenance
The Pritchard and Pritchard team have been revitalising the living wall and planted landscapes at this fantastic mixed use space in Old Street. Remedial works…
Modular living walls deliver immediate total coverage, transforming eyesores such as shopping centres and multi-story carparks into natural wonders. These walls are a cornucopia of small plants – e.g. ferns, euphorbia, heuchera, herbs – planted in modules or troughs exactly where they are needed on the wall. Living Walls transform the built environment and enable specification of plants where underground services prohibit traditional planting.
It is a fact of life that office blocks, shopping centres, distribution centres and car parks have to be built. Living walls mitigate the visual and environmental impact of commercial developments. They mask eyesores, while helping to reduce noise, water and air pollution and reducing the Urban Heat Island effect.
Modular green walls deliver immediate total coverage, rapidly transforming and masking commercial buildings into aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly living walls.
A great example is the (pictured) 1,400m2 network of green walls, planted with 35,000 plants by Pritchard & Pritchard at Westfield Shopping Centre to disguise the facility from its residential neighbours in Shepherds Bush.
Modular green walls incorporate a multitude of small plants – which could include ferns, euphorbia, heuchera and herbs, planted into a framework of modules or troughs, housing the plants exactly where they are needed on the wall to create maximum coverage following a planting plan.
Green walls aren’t just about fabulous looks. Green walls can help to reduce a building’s heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer, saving on energy costs; and protect the wall from extreme weather and ultraviolet light.
See: the Living walls FAQ for more benefits of living walls
All vertical gardens require irrigation, usually fed via dripper pipes which are integrated into the construction of the system.
Large installations require bespoke irrigation systems to create sufficient water pressure and volume to feed large wall landscapes.
This 650 litre irrigation system (pictured) was installed in 2019 by Prichard & Pritchard to service a 400m2 green wall, we constructed at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Village at Cheshire Oaks.
Local authorities – including the Mayor of London – encourage developers to include living walls for the positive environmental impact on:
BREEAM states that green walls can be included for credits in the ‘Enhancing site ecology’ assessment only where there is evidence that a comprehensive on-going maintenance strategy will be in place.
The Urban Greening Factor has been introduced in by the London Mayor and is guiding and influencing the incorporation of meaningful greening projects for new property developments and renovation projects.
The Pritchard and Pritchard team can advise you on maximising your Urban Greening Factor application using a variety of solutions. Before you complete your plans get in touch for a discussion with Niall McEvoy at: niall@pritchardandpritchard.co.uk
See: the Living walls FAQ for more benefits of green walls.
Maintenance programs are highly recommended for modular green walls.
Maintenance regimes for living walls require the following tasks:
See: Green wall maintenance for more information.
The Pritchard and Pritchard team have been revitalising the living wall and planted landscapes at this fantastic mixed use space in Old Street. Remedial works…
The Pritchard and Pritchard team have worked with MMA Architectural to install wire trellis at this multi-storey car park in Winchester.
The Pritchard and Pritchard team installed this neat living wall at The Anglers – a landmark pub on the River Thames in Teddington.