The TUGC boys and girls just spent three days installing a stunning Interior living wall at a new shopping centre at Rushden Lakes. It forms the centre piece of the new house of fraser store. The Scotscape Landscaping Ltd green wall system designed by Gary Grant includes nearly 2,000 plants.

The interior living wall has been designed to impress visitors and to become a prominent feature, to be seen by shoppers using the escalators, with great views from both ground floor and first floor. It takes advantage of the natural light provided by the skylights in the centre of the store. The Green Infrastructure Consultancy has been in discussions with House of Fraser for some time about how plants could be used to improve air quality in their stores for both staff and visitors as well as improving people’s sense of wellbeing.

The living wall brings nature into the heart of the store. The Fytotextile panel system supplied by Scotscape is particularly useful in this location because the living wall curves in front a a steel column – something that would be challenging using rigid plastic panels. The Fytotextile panels are also relatively lightweight – an advantage where a living wall is to be installed without the benefit of a masonry. The House of Fraser wall screens air conditioning ducts and other services.  The new Rushden Lakes development has a strong connection with nature and includes an adjacent boardwalk which overlooks Skew Bridge Lake, part of the Nene Wetlands managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

The specifics of the project are:
Size of Wall: 48m2

Name of Client: House of Fraser

Location:  Rushden Lakes, Northamptonshire

Species used: Adiantum sp, Aglaonema modestum, Asparagus densifolius, Asplenium nidus, Cholorophytum comosum, Maranta leuconeura, Philodendron sp.,Scindapsus sp.,Tradescantia zebrina

Designed by: Green Infrastructure Consultancy

Fytotextile panels supplied by: Scotscape

Installed by: The Urban Greening Company

Irrigation and controls: Verti-Grow

Plants supplied by: Arnott & Mason