Monday, November 24, 2008

The Living Walls on San Francisco's Embarcadero

by Eliza Barclay, Nomad on 11.23.08
Credit: Pelli Clarke Pelli
In a blog post on design applications of water resource management, New York Times design blogger Allison Arrieff included a photograph of a glass office building currently under construction in San Francisco with veritable living walls. Intrigued, we decided to research the project at 110 Embarcadero, and learned it belongs to the design firm Pelli Clarke Pelli and is one of the most creative green buildings in the world in development right now.

We are especially excited about the building's use of walls alive with creeping, curling vines. As Arrieff points out, living walls are not only beautiful and seasonal, but they also absorb and filter storm water, digest nasty particulates, improve outdoor and air quality, and regulate the building's temperature to lower heating and cooling bills.

For the 110 Embarcadero building, planters housed in a trellis-like mesh will be attached between each floor. Each planter will have a variety of vine species to ensure that something will be in bloom all year long. The building aspires to receive a LEED Platinum rating, an award that has never been given to an office building. According to an article earlier this year in the San Francisco Chronicle, the building will open in 2009, and we can't wait.

More on Living Walls:

Guide to Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls
All in all it’s Just Another Plant in the Wall
Living, Green Wall Fends Off Encroaching Desert

Green Walls Growing Everywhere
article found on www.treehugger.com

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