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Latest Greenwall installation - The Department Store
 We are proud to showcase our latest greenwall installation at The Department Store - a new innovative retail venture by entrepreneur Stephen Marr and leading designers Karen Walker and Dan Gosling. The store which opened last week blends art, beauty and fashion in an open, loft style, three level space.
The space was designed with an emphasis on our environment so was the perfect place for an internal greenwall. The greenwall is a NZ first - 10 metres long by 2 metres high, double sided and boasting well over 1000 individual plants.
The Greenwall divides the upper level allowing it to be used as a runway for fashion. The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall uses as much natural light as possible so the use of supplementary lighting is kept to a minimum.
Whilst the greenwall is still in an establishment phase with full coverage expected in the next 3- 6 months, it is already an amazing site to behold.
Urban greenery reduces human disease: research
There is more evidence that living near a 'green space' has health benefits, according to a study by VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam. One environmental expert said the study confirmed that green spaces create 'oases' of improved health around them. Below are the key findings.
- Annual rates for 24 diseases in 7 different categories were calculated. Health benefits for most of the diseases were only seen when the greenery was within a one kilometre radius of the home.
- The impact of close proximity to green spaces is particularly noticeable in reducing rates of mental ill-health
- Annual rates of 15 out of 24 major physical diseases were also significantly lower among those living closer to green spaces
- The exceptions to this were anxiety disorders, infectious diseases of the digestive system and medically unexplained physical symptoms which were seen to benefit even when the green spaces were within three kilometres of the home
- The biggest impact of close proximity green spaces was on anxiety disorders and depression
- The annual prevalence of anxiety disorders for those living in a residential area containing 10% of green space within a one kilometre radius of their home was 26 per 1000, whereas for those living in an area containing 90% of green space it was 18 per 1000
- For depression, the rates were 32 per 1000 for the people in the more built up areas and 24 per 1000 for those in the greener areas
Green Roofs Conference - Australia September 09
Recently Graham was a guest presenter at the Green Roof Conference in Melbourne. Graham is seen somewhat as a NZ pioneer of green roofs since Natural Habitats designed and built a successful green roof at the Quay West in Auckland's CBD back in 1995.
Graham's presentation focused on how green roofs can provide immediate profit. If developers and building owners can see there will be immediate gain by installing a green roof, it makes the investment an easier decision. The audience was receptive to what seemed to be an eye opening presentation.
Graham is on the executive group of Green Roof Australia as he continues to provide evidence, research and experience in the green roof field, "NZ is certainly as up to date as Australia when it comes to research, use of effective systems, and successful implementation of green roofs, despite fewer installations".
Graham was surprised just to see how many failures of green walls there were in Melbourne. Much of this he puts down to not using the correct technology or system and the lack of maintenance to continue to care for the green wall, "just because it grows on a vertical plain and is attached to a hard surface, does not mean that it requires less maintenance than a the traditional horizontal soil garden. If anything, it requires more careful maintenance". The high number of failures highlights how important it is to use the correct system and infrastructure, and continue to maintain the plants and system.
An amazing Patrick Blanc greenwall which was installed in Melbourne Central not so long ago has already failed and been replanted. Another recent example of failure on a large scale was that of the UK's first living wall in North London, which died just three years after it was built (see image below). The £1.5 million children's centre opened in 2006 with more than 30 different plants growing through a steel mesh on the 30-foot façade. The failure came down to design; the wrong system, the wrong media used to host the plants (which appears to have blocked the irrigation), and finally the lack of maintenance and observation.
When it comes to green technology, Graham's point is that it is imperative to do your research. Use the right people, the right system/technology, the right media, and the right plants and back that up with regular maintenance and observation. It is the recipe for success. The investment is too important not to do it right the first time.
NZ Greenwalls
Our own Greenwall is continuing to grow well, see updated images. We have just completed an impressive double sided 10m x 2m internal greenwall, details still under wrap but watch out for images and details on the Natural Habitats newsletter out soon.
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