Living Plant Display Walls

Jan 29, 2020

Recently an architect from BP approached Shopkit for help realising an innovative way to create a new breakout area for staff and visitors in one of their buildings at their Headquarters in Sunbury On Thames, UK.

Their plans included two freestanding large right-angled living plant display walls that would be used to screen off part of an office space from lifts and corridors. These living plant display walls would provide two corners and three sides of the breakout area that would face a huge LCD display wall.

The screens were to be created from a total of 96 individual metal-framed cubes stacked on top of each other to form two pyramid-like structures which would then be used to support white square metal planters holding a variety of tropical plants.

Once bolted together the individual cubes would create walls of different lengths up to eight boxes long (3200mm) and from two – five boxes high (800 – 2000mm).

Using this framework style support for the planters will allow the plants to be able to grow freely throughout the structure, intermingling together to form a living wall and provide the screening that the breakout space required.

The architect had also specified that the white metal planters needed to be placed on removable metal shelves that could be taken out to accommodate the growth of the plants and placed elsewhere within the structure and allow for additional planters to be added in due course.

We manufactured the 96 cubes from 25mm square sections of mild steel creating 400mm square frameworks along with their corresponding mild steel removable shelves, which were then all powder coated a glossy earthy brown.

The installation had to take place out of normal working hours and so both structures were constructed onsite overnight, bolting all the cubes together to create the two rising walls and their designated pattern of shelves and then planters were placed inside.

Our two cube frameworks were positioned upon a large textured green carpet that was both more comfortable under foot than the rest of the office flooring and also helped to zone the breakout space. Once the living plant display walls completed the area was finished off with a mixture of mossy green and contrasting bright orange furniture.

If you would like more information about this living plant display walls project, or our custom metalwork capabilities – please do call our Design Team on 01923 818282, email us on: sales@shopkit.com or fill out the form below.