How do you increase the presence of green spaces in the middle of the city, where there’s not much space? Well, today, you can certainly green the city vertically. Dubbed the vertical garden, it is now possible to grow vegetation in existing living spaces, increasing liveability in high-density neighbourhoods where space is limited.
How do you increase the presence of green spaces in the middle of the city, where there’s not much space? Well, today, you can certainly green the city vertically.
The concept of vertical gardens stems from the popularity of green façade and green wall that became fashionable in the late 80s: a green wall has plants that grow from a structure supported on the face of the wall, while green facades allow vegetation to grow from the soil contained at the base of the wall.
The vertical garden has made it possible to grow vegetation in existing living spaces around the world, increasing liveability in high-density neighbourhoods where space is limited.
Many of Kuala Lumpur’s new high-rises are also incorporating the vertical garden concept into their designs. One of the most ambitious is the 200-meter-high Le Nouvel residential towers on Jalan Ampang, the closest we get to a vertical botanical garden, right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Cladded with vast expanse of green walls designed by renowned French botanist Patrick Blanc, stocks of plants grown on the building’s green facades were sourced from various tropical settings in Malaysia, including the Royal Belum State Park. State-of-the-art sprinkling system allows the vegetation to be kept using minimal manpower, and a network of “catwalks” and small gondolas allow gardeners to tend to the vertically grown plants regularly without causing much disruption to the occupants.
Commercial buildings are also getting into the urban garden scene. One of the most prominent is the Platinum Sentral building in KL Sentral. It is an example of how vertical garden can provide an oasis of green in the middle a dense “traffic island”. Surrounded by an elevated LRT line, Jalan Damansara and the KL Sentral traffic loop, the midrise, triangular campus-style building provides a cooling sight.
True to its green ethos, the building -- the World Gold Winner of the FIABCI World Prix D’Excellence Awards 2014 for the Sustainable Development Category -- employs architectural solutions to maximize daylight usage, with a naturally ventilated atrium, and solar heating and rainwater harvesting systems. Its office greenscapes include roof and terrace gardens, water features, and the largest green wall system in the country enveloping the whole development.
The shrubberies covering the building on all sides promote a lower temperature, as they create shade and help minimize heat absorption.
Photo credit: Vertical Garden - Patrick Blanc
