Alongside their eye-catching design, the benefits of biodiversity and energy efficiency are key features of Viritopia’s exterior Living Walls. One such wall, which was being created inside the Viritopia nurseries, was home to a nesting robin this Spring! The small bird found a home for itself in one of the wall’s featured habitat boxes and acts as a demonstration of how Living Walls create a bio-diverse ecosystem for local fauna. Viritopia’s horticulturalists had speculated that the robin may have been nesting in the Living Wall but had not managed to locate it until it suddenly shot out and revealed itself.
Viritopia uses several strategies to encourage wildlife to create a home in the Living Walls. During their installation, the design team position the habitat boxes at the right height for specific species of bird and ensure the box hole is the appropriate width. The boxes that local birds, such as Viritopia’s new friend, choose to nest in are insulated with undecorated FSC timber to create a cosy environment that doesn’t draw the attention of predators. The Viritopia team, using over 45 years of horticultural experience, work alongside the client to carefully select plant species that are native to the local area. Plants can be specifically chosen to have ideal nesting properties, which offer habitual protection, for example the ‘Buxus Sempervirens’, features such properties for nesting birds. Additionally the team may select plants which produce seeds, nectar or fruits such as strawberries. Viritopia also offers fully installed Insect Hotels, bat and bee boxes. Consequently a habitat is created where local species of bees, butterflies, insects and bats can be further encouraged to make a home.
In architecture there is a tendency to pave over soil and grass to create areas that are more easily managed and maintained. This leads to the destruction of natural habitats, increases air pollution and the effect of global warming. The Living Wall offers a long lasting and low maintenance alternative for architects and their clients. The wall’s less obvious design features also help to create a cleaner environment. Viritopia offices control the specially designed auto irrigation system, which harvests rainwater to redistribute when watering the plants. Furthermore by creating more ‘green spaces’ the Living Walls remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen, thus helping to clear it from pollutants. Global warming is further reduced through the continuous watering of plants, leading to an increase in evaporation. Additional benefits include reducing a building’s carbon footprint and saving energy by insulating the building in the winter and keeping it cool in the summer. In doing so the impact of global warming can be reduced, creating a more stable environment which is more harmonious for the local animals.
By creating a building which has a biodiverse environment, it helps create a visual impact, which balances the rural and urban, especially in crowded city environments. The wall is quite literally a ‘breath of fresh air’ both environmentally and from a design point of view. For a business, the Living Wall’s appeal to local wildlife helps to communicate an eco friendly message to customers or promote strategies of reduced energy usage, recycling and organic produce. The Living Wall can attract customers and differentiate a business. For inner city developments and urban housing, which tend to have more restricted space, the Living Walls offer the attraction of wildlife in an unsuspecting environment, creating a stunning feature and enhancing the property value.
The presence of the Viritopia’s nesting robin helps to demonstrate how the Living Walls are vivid displays that capture attention from an architectural point of view, but also draws attention to their environmental benefits and positive impact for local wildlife. Viritopia promotes these qualities through plant selection, conservation features such as habitat boxes, in the structuring of the auto irrigation system by using harvested rainwater, reducing a building’s energy consumption and carbon footprint.