An innovative 200 square metre green wall on the side of Edgware Road Underground Station wall designed to trap pollution on one of London's busiest roads, was unveiled in November 2011.
The full text of the article is reproduce below:
"Green walls create new urban jungles
By Matthew Knight, CNN
Vertical gardens are cropping up all over cities these days, transforming drab urban facades into vibrant jungle of color.
These lush expanses have found their way onto the walls -- both inside and out -- on numerous sites in recent years revitalizing public buildings, hotels, offices and even a multi-storey car park in Netherlands.
Aside from their pleasing aesthetic qualities, vertical garden could also deliver more practical benefits says Mark Laurence, creative director at Biotecture, a UK Company who design and build green walls.
"The market is rapidly moving into looking at how they can provide eco-system services and green infrastructures for urban environments,"Laurence said.
Their modular hydroponic system -- where plants sit in a soil-free set up with nutrients delivered through irrigation channels -- can be retrofitted to just about any wall.
A recent creation erected on the side of Edgware Road Underground station in central London is hoping to improve air quality.
The 200-square meter wall near Marylebone Road -- on the UK capital's grimiest thoroughfares -- is being monitored by imperial College, London.
The leaves also have electrostatic charge that also attracts particles.
"A researcher I was speaking to recently reckons green walls in urban canyon environments (areas where walls are higher than the width of the road separating them) are more effective than trees at collecting particles because the way the wind eddies around and them moves down the wall," Laurence said.
Some believe that in less polluted areas, green wall could be employed to grow food, which could aid urban food security. Biotecture have successfully trialled a wall which grew 45 varieties of vegetable.
Furthermore, there's nothing stopping people building their own, more basic green walls at home, Laurence says.
There are various systems for DIY construction with most requiring a compost-based system, he says, but homemade hydroponic systems can be made using plastic bottles. All you need is irrigation and adequate light." (
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Transport for London press release is reproduced below:
"Stunning green wall unveiled at Edgware Road Tube station to deliver cleaner air
28 November 2011
An innovative 200 square metre green wall on a central London Tube station wall designed to trap pollution on one of London's busiest roads, was unveiled today.
Delivering cleaner air for London is a top priority for me and this ingenious green wall traps harmful pollution on one of our busiest roads, helping to cleanse the air at this popular spot as well as helping to soften and beautify the local environment.
The visually stunning green wall has taken just a month to install and, as well as having practical environmental benefits, is an attractive leafy addition to Marylebone Road.
It features a total of 15 plant varieties crafted into a multi-coloured and patterned design.
Studies across Europe and the USA have shown the potential of vegetation, including trees and plants, to trap PM10.
The air quality benefits of this wall will be monitored by scientists from Imperial College London.
The green wall is just one of a range of innovative and targeted measures being introduced by the Mayor, Boris Johnson, to deliver cleaner air in London at places where particulate matter (PM10) pollution is highest.
This includes an unprecedented programme of green infrastructure designed to trap pollution - other features recently installed include 50 planted towers on Lower Thames Street.
Furthermore, the location of the first of 500 new street trees and shrubs has been confirmed with 200 Lime trees currently being planted along the A40.
More tree planting is being planned on Park Lane, Upper Thames Street, Western Avenue (A40), Old Kent Road (A2), Brixton Road (A23), Woolwich Flyover (Rear of Tunnel Ave), A4 (between Boston Manor Rd and Ealing Rd), A4 (close to Heston Rd).
The initiatives are part of the London Clean Air Fund financed by the Department for Transport (DfT) at the Mayor's request.
The Clean Air Fund measures have been designed to reduce levels of PM10 (a pollutant coming mostly from traffic emissions) by between 10 and 20 per cent where applied.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'Delivering cleaner air for London is a top priority for me and this ingenious green wall traps harmful pollution on one of our busiest roads, helping to cleanse the air at this popular spot as well as helping to soften and beautify the local environment.'
The plants that have been used for the wall have been grown in 'Grodan' (a peat-free substrate).
Grodan has achieved the European Ecolabel for sustainability and is chemically inert.
The structure that supports the plants includes 'Ecosheet' (a waterproof backing material) which is manufactured in the UK from recycled material.
The Edgware Road green wall has been designed, manufactured and installed by Biotecture Ltd.
Transport for London is in discussions with other organisations on further locations for additional green walls in areas that would benefit from them most." (
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"Transport for London commissioned Biotecture to design, grow and install this eye-catching green wall in a determined effort to counter air pollution in London. The location, on the corner Marylebone Road, was one of the areas identified as needing urgent air quality improvement. Funded by the government’s Clean Air Fund, the air quality benefits of the wall were monitored by Imperial College London who assessed the chosen plants for their ability to remove particulate matter from the air. The huge green wall holds 14,000 plants of 15 different species with smaller leaves and a variety of textures, which were specifically chosen as they are better air filters of PM10 - harmful particulates from traffic fumes. Biotecture's green wall at Edgware Road is one of the many projects supported by the Mayor of London's ambitious Clean Air Fund to improve London's air quality. (
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