FLAME UniversityPune
Full-height green column on a residential block
Green facades
Green facades, engineered to grow.
Climbing plants on stainless cable nets, living facade panels and planter ledges for podiums, towers and boundary walls: engineered with your structural consultant, watered automatically and cared for by our own teams.
- Stainless 316 nets & ropes
- Anchored into the structure
- Automatic drip irrigation
- AMC available
In short
A green facade grows climbing plants from planters up a stainless cable net or rope trellis held 50–200 mm in front of a building face. Vertvista designs, installs and maintains cable-net facades, modular living facades and planter ledges, with fixings anchored into the concrete frame after a structural check, AISI 316 stainless steel, automatic drip irrigation and a signed-off mock-up bay. We are building one now for Fairfield by S Raheja in Mumbai: about 1,000 m² of stainless net on an 85 m facade.
- Systems
- Cable net or rope trellis, living panels, planter ledges
- Steel
- AISI 316 stainless, mill-certified
- Fixing
- Wall points into concrete beams and columns, never cladding
- Stand-off
- 50–200 mm off the wall
- Water
- Pressure-compensating drip, one valve per zone
Three ways to green a facade
Climbers
Cable net or rope trellis
Climbers rooted in planters grow up a stainless cable net or rope grid fixed in front of the wall. The lightest way to green a large facade; cover builds season by season.
Living panels
Modular living facade
Pre-planted panels with built-in drip irrigation on a frame fixed to the wall. Green from day one, with more irrigation and care than climbers.
Green wallsPlanter ledges
Cascading greenery
Planters built into ledges, balconies or podium edges, with trailing plants and climbers spilling over the face.
Five layers, from the beam to the leaf.
- Wall points anchored into the concrete frame, never the cladding. Cladding openings are sealed and the steel is kept apart from aluminium.
- Stainless wire ropes frame each panel, tensioned with turnbuckles.
- Stainless cable net, a diamond mesh laced to the ropes, gives climbers a hold across the whole face.
- Climbers trained onto the net as they grow.
- Planters with drip irrigation at the base or on each floor, run by automatic controllers.
The net sits 50–200 mm off the wall, set by the facade and the plants.
Checked before anything goes on the wall
- Structural checkA structural engineer sizes the anchors for wind and the weight of grown plants. Fixings go into concrete beams and columns, not cladding.
- Site trialsTrial holes show what is behind the cladding, and anchors are pull-tested on site before installation starts.
- Mock-up firstOne bay is built and signed off before the rest of the facade goes up.
- Stainless 316Nets, ropes and fittings in AISI 316 stainless steel with mill certificates, chosen for coastal air.
- Recorded tensionRope tensions and bolt torques are logged for every run and handed over with the as-built drawings.
- Automatic irrigationDrip lines with pressure-compensating drippers, a valve per zone and controllers that can adjust for rain and season.
Still on the wall after a super typhoon.
In September 2016 super typhoon Meranti hit Xiamen with gusts of around 170 km/h. The ELMICH living wall of about 220 m² on the front of JI Hotel stood firm and intact.
Its anchoring is independently certified for wind uplift up to 110 km/h. We supply the same system in India for facades that must be green from day one.
Project and photo: ELMICH, Singapore.
Now building: Fairfield by S Raheja, Santacruz West
A stainless cable-net facade for S Raheja Realty in Mumbai: climbers planted on four podium floors will grow up a 12-metre band of stainless net, laced to a rope grid and held 50 mm off the cladding.
- 1,000 m²of stainless cable net, approx.
- 85 mof facade
- 12 mplanted height
- 4floors of planters on automatic drip
Facades and outdoor walls we have built
Enlarge: Flowering climbers on a green column
Enlarge: Modular green tower
Enlarge: Living wall along a lawn
Enlarge: Street-front living wall
DLF & New Light
Outdoor living wall, planter-ledge facade and moss partitions
DLF
Outdoor vertical garden behind a fountain court
Green facades across India
Our own teams install and look after this work in every city we operate in.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a green facade and a green wall?
A green facade uses climbing plants rooted in planters or the ground, growing up a net or trellis in front of the wall. A green wall holds plants in panels on the wall itself, with irrigation built in.
Facades are lighter and more economical over large areas; living walls are green from day one.
How long do climbers take to cover the net?
It depends on the plant, the sun and the height, and cover builds over growing seasons. Where the facade must look green at handover, we start with pre-grown climbers or combine the net with planter ledges or living panels.
Will it damage the building?
No fixing goes into the cladding: wall points are anchored into the concrete frame, cladding openings are sealed, and stainless steel is kept apart from aluminium. The climbers grow on the net, not on the wall.
Can a green facade go on an existing building?
Usually, yes. We survey the facade, open trial holes where there is cladding, and design the fixings around what we find, with a structural engineer's sign-off.
Which climbers do you use?
We choose for the city, the sun and the height: fast, evergreen climbers for cover, flowering climbers for colour. NCR facades get species proven in North Indian heat and cold.
Who looks after it?
Our teams, under an AMC: pruning, training new growth onto the net, feeding and irrigation checks. Access for this work is planned at design stage.
Tell us about your space.
Share the site, the size and what you have in mind. We will come back with ideas and a time for a site visit.
Or call +91 70452 51178 or write to info@vertvista.com