In 2014, the City of Fort Collins launched and initiative
called “Nature in the City” with the goal of ensuring every citizen has access
to nature close to where they live and work. The focus of the project is to
determine how the built environment contributes to how nature is perceived
within the City. One of the deliverables of the project is a set of design
guidelines that will support the successful implementation of various
techniques that enhance access to nature in urban environments. While most of
these approaches are well understood and tested, some have not been attempted
in the arid West. One such approach is a living wall.
The Nature in the City initiative has contracted the Urban
Lab to coordinate the design and installation of the first living wall in the
Rocky Mountain region. The project will be a high profile case study on the
feasibility and creation of green walls in arid climates. The wall will be
designed to demonstrate what plants work best in a vertical setting and how
habitat can be enhanced on site through use of green wall systems. Beyond these
immediate project goals, the potential to better understand the variety of
benefits that green walls are known to deliver will be the subject of ongoing
research and observation.
Green walls are well documented for providing a w
ide variety of benefits: they improve both indoor and outdoor air quality, they provide buildings with insulation from heat and cold while protecting the building envelope from water and sunlight. They help to lower summer temperatures in cities by reducing the urban heat island effect. The vegetation green walls add to the urban environment provides habitat for urban species. Social psychologists have shown that by viewing and interacting with vegetation, stress and mental fatigue decrease as feelings of neighborhood security and overall health increases.
ide variety of benefits: they improve both indoor and outdoor air quality, they provide buildings with insulation from heat and cold while protecting the building envelope from water and sunlight. They help to lower summer temperatures in cities by reducing the urban heat island effect. The vegetation green walls add to the urban environment provides habitat for urban species. Social psychologists have shown that by viewing and interacting with vegetation, stress and mental fatigue decrease as feelings of neighborhood security and overall health increases.
The confirmed site for the Nature in the City and Urban
Lab’s living wall is at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Students from the
Colorado State University Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture have
worked with the City of Fort Collins and The Institute for the Built
Environment to produce compositional and planting designs for panels that will
established in the CSU greenhouses. The Urban Lab has connected the CSU USGBC
student chapter with the project. This student group will install the panels on
site, thereby furthering the project’s educational impact. The Fort Collins
Museum of Discovery was selected as the ideal site to locate the project for a
variety of reasons. Because of the existing public-private partnership between
the City and the Museum, maintenance issues will be streamlined through the
City Parks Dept., the project proximity to the Mason Corridor aligns with the
Urban Lab’s mission to enhance smart development between the University and
Downtown Fort Collins on this mixed-use corridor, and the well established
reputation of the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery as a venue for educational
displays that are equally accessible to children and adults. The living wall
will serve as an exhibit at the Museum, and will be sited adjacent to the new endowment
garden, to be designed by local firm Earthborn Landscape Design. The location
will have high visibility and public access, while the plant selection will
include species that support pollinators, have a variety of seasonal interest
and are tactile and aromatic.
If successful, the first living wall in the region will
contribute to a better understanding of the feasibility of using these types of
systems in our urban environments. The benefits that are connected with living
walls are well worth exploring as a part of a suite of techniques that increase
biodiversity, resource savings and overall well-being in cities. With any luck,
you might see more vertical greenery in your city in the coming years.
