Paradise Park Childrens Centre, Islington

Architects: DSDHA
'green' wall:

This building trialled, unsuccessfully, a hydroponic wall; whereby the plants were grown without soil, using only water with mineral nutrient solutions.  The plants were rooted into what looked like mineral wool covering the meshed structure around the facade.

This project brings into question whether this system of green walling works.  This is forced nature, and not the natural way of growth; without careful maintainence, in the longterm, a system such as this is likely to fail.  Nature has not got the ability to finds it's own path for growth, it does not become 'wildlife', & it's existance depends too heavily on the efforts of man's hands.

 

Above:  A view of the from this angle brings into perspective again the amount of added infrastructure that is created to support plant life.  Exspecially with the buildings context within the park setting, an area with ample open space.  A system such as this, if it to work, might have more merit within a denser urban fabric where land is otherwise unavailable for plant growth and biodiversity.

Below:  Bringing in a selection of other vegetation taking over vertical surfaces around london I stumbled across, such as this building along Bear Lane in Southwark & the taxi shelter outside Tate Modern, it allows for a comparison in the effects between a naturally green wall and a hydroponic wall.

Here the wall becomes wild with a blanket of natural growth, whose plant roots are based in soil at ground level.  Maturing and inhabiting the space successfully over time.  The result, a much more successful symbiosis than the Paradise Park hydroponic wall.  

 

This taxi shelter is constructed from a mesh system which becomes settled by ivy, rooted in a small area of bedding at the forground of the photo.  (no more structural infrastructure is created/added than what may have existed without the need of supporting plants).  Here the plant recieves as much nutrients and water as needed from the soil, and only when needed, & within natural cycles.  It is interesting to see how a similar mesh structure as used in the Paradise Park facade is used in different ways.  The mesh at paradise park could have similarly been used in this way.

This is not a quick fix, or technical solution, to greening a facade.  The result and success appears over time, but as a result the structure becomes more grounded, & I admire this.  

Granted these examples are ivy and may not provide as much biodiversity as a successful hydroponic wall, however, it should be noted that this is a species of plant which thrives in the UK climate in various orientations.  Consideration into which plants to use for the best performance is key within green walls.