Right across Britain, living walls are springing up left right and centre. And that’s because they offer a huge raft of benefits in terms of air quality, temperature moderation, biodiversity and wellbeing. But did you know that interior living walls are also hugely advantageous to health, productivity and wellbeing?
Installing Living Walls
At Pritchard and Pritchard we work with interior designers and architects to create beautiful indoor living walls. We also help other living wall companies with expert installation and maintenance services. Each scenario is completely different. For some organisations, an interior living wall represents their commitment to providing a healthy and attractive working environment. For others, there is a strong desire to manage air quality with as little dependency as possible on expensive electricity. But whatever the core reason behind the desire to adopt biophilic design principles, the creation and maintenance of an interior living wall can only ever be a positive move.
How Do Interior Living Walls Benefit Building Users?
Research has shown that the installation of an interior green wall brings almost instant benefits to the users of an indoor space. Proximity to living plants relieves anxiety for many people and thus frees their mind to focus on the task in hand.
The phrase, “Sick Building Syndrome” was first coined in the 1970’s. It describes a phenomenon where people become unwell after spending time in a particular building – usually an office environment. It is associated with headaches, respiratory discomfort, itchy skin, dry eyes and fatigue. SBS has also been linked to problems with interpersonal relationships and poor communication.
It is thought that Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) emitted by synthetic building materials, furnishings, cleaning chemicals and printer effluent may affect some individuals. Whilst high levels of carbon dioxide, mould spores and even infiltration of motor vehicle exhaust fumes from outside also negatively impact health, well-being and productivity.
The good news is, that an interior living wall can help to clean the air of pollutants, regulate humidity and absorb carbon dioxide. Thus meaning that not only are occupants are less likely to experience symptoms of SBS, the building’s ventilation system doesn’t need to work quite as hard.
Motivational ART
Yes, and interior living wall is a thing of beauty and may well be considered a work of art. But in this case we’re talking about the acronym A.R.T. Attention Restoration Theory.
Attention Restoration Theory suggests that when working in an attractive and healthy environment, employees feel valued which in turn, enhances motivation, productivity, interpersonal relationships and even, staff retention rates.
An interior living wall therefore, could be said to offer a great return on investment.
Ticking Those Boxes
Aside from the aesthetic, PR and health benefits of interior living walls, they are a useful tool for any developer or buildings manager wishing to attain BREEAM status, meet required RFO standards or achieve WELL Building Standards. Any, or all, of these standards can help meet planning requirements and will ultimately add value to a building.
How To Design And Build An Interior Living Wall
For an interior living wall that has visual impact, maximum health benefits, that meets health and safety standards, and provides all the right conditions for plants to truly thrive, these beauties need to be professionally designed and built.
Pritchard and Pritchard are frequently contacted by architects and interior designers for help to specify and install indoor living walls. Our teams understand the challenges of balancing the limitations of a building and the requirements of its occupants. We can calculate weight loadings, supply appropriate structures and fittings, install and calibrate irrigation systems and help you to find appropriate plants to achieve the desired effect. Working with all commercial grade systems in the UK we can follow architects specifications to the letter.
We even offer a maintenance service to keep your living walls looking vibrant and healthy all year round.
Planning a green wall installation? Arrange a consultation with Pritchard and Pritchard and we’ll help you to achieve your goals.
