A living wall makes a powerful design statement in both an exterior and interior setting. Increasingly used to bring sustainable beauty to urban areas, these modular ‘vertical gardens’ can enhance housing estates, shopping malls, airports, hospitals, schools, colleges, car parks and many other city buildings. However, this greening effect has now extended to interior design, with modular structures which can be installed with minimum disruption, to maximum effect.
The wide range of foliage shapes and colours available to horticulturists means a green screen can become a wall of living art, while at the same time bringing a host of social and environmental benefits. Using plants as interior decor can radically improve health and well-being, especially in multi-occupancy buildings such as offices. Inadequate ventilation, poorly maintained air conditioning, computer emissions, chemical vapours, paint particles and a host of other factors mean that the average ‘clean’ working environment may be several times more polluted than that outside. Plants can counteract some of these negative effects by maintaining humidity levels, filtering out pollutants and removing carbon dioxide from the air, making the office a healthier and more comfortable place to work.
Plants also have a beneficial effect on psychological health, reducing stress, improving moods and increasing productivity. It is difficult to see how a few tired-looking spider plants can achieve such a dynamic effect, yet this has been the extent of green décor in many homes and workplaces. However, the tide is turning, with people switching on to the creative possibilities of using vertical gardens and green screens in an interior setting.
Interior green wall systems are installed in offices, health clubs, hotels, private homes and many other locations. Available in modular form (which can be rearranged to suit different room formats), and with built-in reservoirs and other features to keep maintenance to a minimum, they make a spectacular design statement in any room.