Green three-layer walls
The French botanist Patrica Blanca is considered the creator of this system. Its design consists of several layers/elements:
– The first is a rigid sheet e.g. PVC – covered with polypropylene film, then another two layers made of felt are applied to it.
In the top layer of felt, small incisions are created – so-called pockets, in which plant greening “vertical garden” is placed. The roots of these plants are cleaned of soil, so that they can overwhelm the fabric like dirt. Pockets can also be filled with peat, mineral cotton, coconut fiber, etc. An important element of the proper functioning of the “vertical garden” are microorganisms living between the roots, creating specific living conditions, helpful in the development of a given plant.
Automatic irrigation systems are used to irrigate and supply plants with nutrients, which take the form of plastic perforated tubes.
The whole is based on a special steel structure, which is fixed on the wall of the building. The weight of the entire structure can range from 20 to 50 kg/m2.
Selection of plants:
It depends on the environmental conditions that exist on the wall. Other important factors are the physical characteristics of the plant, its size, color or leaf density. Maintenance of the garden should take place once every three months.
An example of the selection of plants for greening three-layer walls:
Wall for professionals.
Green three-layer walls are made almost all over the world. Many of these projects are large-scale projects, building facades of entire buildings facades – they cover objects like living leather. The system can be very flexible, so mounted on walls with different curvatures, it also facilitates the way of greening, so you can create varied plastic compositions in form and color and texture.
The system in temperate zones, I need a special irrigation system and a special medium used for irrigation of the wall, which will not relieve freezing during moderate frosts.
Examples include:
Musee du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris.
The design ofthis “Vertical Garden”is located in the center of Paris near the city’s biggest attraction, the Eiffel Tower on Quai Branly Street. The “vertical garden” was designed by Patrick Blank, a French botanist in 2004, the entire installation has an area of 799 m2 and forms an integral part of the entire foundation, which consists not only of a museum building but a garden designed nearby. The greening of the wall used plant species characteristic of the temperate northern hemisphere zone, although there were also species from the southern hemisphere for a total of 150 species. 15,000 plants were used.
Green wall for the Cartier Foundation in Paris.
The “vertical garden” located on the façade of the Cartier Foundation building is small in size but has a very important role in the architecture of the described object. It invites passers-by to its interior, announces what we can expect after crossing the glass translucent screen that protects the building from the side of a busy street. Behind it there are plantings of trees, creating the first interior of the object, an inner garden, separated from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Vertical garden for local communities.
These types of walls can also be implemented by local communities themselves. Especially suitable here species of annual plants, because in winter the green wall installed in the temperate zone can freeze. This type of vertical garden can be installed in the interiors without restrictions.
How to make a particular garden. They perfectly illustrate the short videos available on youtube channel eg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkVj6QN0MCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTq364RwH44
An example technical solution: