Nature is disappearing at an alarming rate built environment recognized as a major driver of biodiversity decline. Scientists predict that on our current trajectory of habitat loss and global warming, nearly 40% of all species will be threatened with extinction by the end of this century. It’s a scary prospect that led structural engineer Alistair Law to come up with a solution to bring nature and biodiversity back to our greatest cities.
As a facade engineer at international design firm Arup, Law spent several years working on a number of exciting design and construction projects, including Google’s new London headquarters. But in 2013, while living in Paris, he came up with the idea for his company Vertical Meadowwhich creates native wildflowers and grass meadows designed to green up buildings and increase biodiversity in the city.
“The concept of living walls wasn’t new, but it was applied in a very controlled way,” says Law. “Most suppliers pre-grown plants and then put them in pots against the wall, which looked great on the first day, but got worse over time, with the plants often dying. I was more interested in how we could make greening more meaningful in cities could bring and integrate with existing built systems?”
Instead of buying live plants and transporting them to the site, Law’s idea was to grow them on site from seed, reducing costs and making the process more sustainable. After experimenting with different materials, he began testing in Paris and devised a system for growing grasses and clovers that could adorn scaffolding and other building structures.
The company uses adaptable, species-rich native wild grass and wildflower seed mixes that provide a haven for pollinators, insects, birds and butterflies, which it applies to its two living wall solutions; a Vertical Meadow cladding designed for construction fencing and scaffolding and a Vertical Meadow cladding.
“We use 25 seed types and we never know what will come out,” says Law. “For me, the joy lies in not being able to determine whether you are getting a daisy, cornflower or poppy and when they appear. There’s excitement about it, but it’s also challenging. It’s not direct. We tell people this will grow, but this is nature, which can look messy in the winter. But messiness is good; it provides a haven for all the caterpillars and other insects that overwinter in this grass.”
The system is designed to be simple, with a plug and play approach to growing plants in place from seed. A dry product is delivered to the location, connected to an irrigation system, Wi-Fi, power and water supply and then switched on to start the germination process. Over time, the plants begin to grow and flower and progress is tracked through easy inspection and maintenance apps.
Vertical Meadow completed its first project in 2016 for Grosvenor at Holbein Place in Sloane Square in London. In November 2020, the company secured a £100,000 Innovate UK sustainable development grant, which was used to redesign its permanent cladding solution.
“We are finalizing our cladding system, which can then be applied to existing buildings, with almost everything made from non-combustible materials, which is critical when dealing with buildings,” says Law.
With his engineering background, he admits it’s been a steep learning curve learning about the wildlife and biodiversity side of what he does now, but he’s helped by working closely with experts from Wildlife Trusts, universities and leading ecologists such as as Nigel Dunnett.
Last September it won the CIRIA BIG Biodiversity Challenge Construction Phase Award for its installation on the Holbein Gardens construction site in central London. With more projects in the pipeline, plans include installing living walls under billboards. After a small fundraiser last year, the company, now a team of three, will look for a larger round of external funding later this year.
The introduction of a mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain of 10% on construction projects has led to more awareness of the importance of nature in the built environment; but, as Law points out, the build phase is still largely ignored. He sees Vertical Meadow’s role as creating a bridge between pre- and post-construction, introducing a haven for local invertebrates, bees, butterflies and birds to support a more permanent reintroduction of biodiversity.
Law adds: “I got lucky; in my role as an engineer I have worked on some iconic buildings around the world, but the work I do with Vertical Meadow brings a completely different kind of satisfaction. We have to start giving back. That’s the message to get out. If you work together with nature, then nature does its job.”
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