Desjardins, the largest association of credit unions in North America, is now home to world’s tallest interior living wall in the world. The wall was designed by Green over Grey, a design firm based in Vancouver that specialises in the creation of living walls. For this 15-storey wall they used more than 11,000 individual plants, which were arranged according to colour, texture, pattern and size.
According to Monique Leroux, president and chief executive of Desjardins Group, the interior wall, which can be admired at their new building in Lévis houses, is a “living” proof of the association’s commitment to sustainable development.
She said: “We wanted to find a tangible way to show our commitment to sustainable development and enrich our employees’ work environment.”
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The new building at 150 rue des Commandeurs in Lévis has an eco-friendly approach and is expected to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification after completion in September 2014.
Patrick Poiraud, co-founder of Green over Grey also said that the living wall was the tallest indoor vertical garden in the world.
“The wall is fully hydroponic (i.e. soil-free) and incorporates plants that thrive in similar vertical environments found in nature, like on tree branches and next to waterfalls. The end result is a visually pleasing piece that provides cleaner indoor air and improves both the acoustic quality and the value of the property,” he said.
The living wall is 213 feet high and has a total surface area of 2,139 square feet. It includes 42 plant species, including philodendrons, monsteras, fig trees, ginger, snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata), elkhorn ferns (Platycerium bifurcatum), scheffleras, clusias and banana plants. These will also help clean and purify the air.
Chief designer for Green over Grey, Mike Weinmaster, spent five months designing the wall and selecting the plants to ensure the right balance between the different colours and textures.
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