GREEN FACELIFT FOR MANCHESTER APARTMENT BLOCK

A block of flats owned by Eastlands Homes housing association in east Manchester has been given a green facelift with a Mobilane living wall that runs up the full height of the nine-storey building. The installation is one of our tallest installations yet.

The ivy WallPlanters will help to insulate the flats at Worsley Court in Rusholme as well as enhancing the look of the block, which was built in the 60s and is in the process of being refurbished by Eastlands Homes.

Importantly, the ‘green wall’ will also help to reduce pollution levels near the flats; Worsley Court is located on Wilmslow Road, a busy bus corridor with high pollutant levels. In total, nine ivy WallPlanters have been installed by Hedera Screens to cover 100 sq m of the building. The plants will remove the same number of pollutant particulates from the air as four to five average-sized trees, but take up a fraction of the space.

Despite being 44 meters tall, the WallPlanters will be easy to maintain because of a special root zone in the planters that has been designed to give the plants an ideal environment in which to grow. A sophisticated irrigation system supplies water and nutrients as required.

It was installed as part of a project to revamp the apartment block, which forms part of a project of three multi-storey blocks owned by Eastlands Homes.  One of the key priorities in refurbishing this building was to improve the insulation of the flats. The ivy will help to reduce heat loss from the building in winter, while in the summer months it will help to shield the building from the sun’s rays and keep the interior cool.

The finishing touches are added to Mobilane WallPlanters at Worsley Court, Rusholme.