Designed and built by Frosts Landscape Construction, the green wall of flowering plants extends the full height of the hotel’s internal courtyard, 35m up to the 11thfloor. The wall provides a backdrop viewed through a glass roof in the hotel reception area, and is the view from each of the hotel bedrooms facing the courtyard.
The planting also wraps around the outside of the building extending upwards from the 9thstorey and connects with a large green roof area on top of the hotel.
Total surface area, including courtyard and four external elevations, is 1,025 sq m.
In addition, the green roof area will cover 350 sq m, making this one of the largest areas of structural landscaping on any building in the UK, it is claimed.
The "tallest" claim is challenged by ANS Group, which has installed a14-storey living wall at the Archer Hoblin affordable housing development in Digby Road, Hackney.
On the Mint Hotel, more than 180,000 individual plants have been used, from 40 different species.
For the living wall, 4,100 modules were fitted to the building, with each module containing 45 planted cells, each 70mm deep. Each module is fixed onto a recycled plastic mounting strip and fitted to a steel frame at 500mm centres, which in turn is attached to the rendered wall. The modules were then fixed to the frame, starting from the bottom of the wall and working to the top.
The work was carried out by Frosts Landscape Construction. Director Aidan Lane said: “Living walls are an increasingly popular alternative to stone facades. Everyone wants to see green spaces, not a concrete jungle. But it’s very unusual to see this extent of planting on a live building.
"This project was a real technical challenge due to its location and height. It’s a testament to what is now possible thanks to a well engineered system, greater knowledge and real enthusiasm among clients, architects and contractors.
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The building was designed by architect Bennetts Associates and main contractor was Laing O’Rourke.
Mr Lane added: “Working closely with Bennetts Associates and Laing O’Rourke, we managed to find a very simple construction solution which, combined with straightforward maintenance of the plants, will easily last the lifetime of the building. We were able to use a much wider range of plants while delivering a substantial saving on the original design. The biodiversity benefits are hugely important to modern urban environments.
"We're hoping this Mint Hotel project will inspire a new thinking on urban biodiversity and architecture. City landscaping helps reduce the urban heat island effect, reduce common water run-off problems and reduce stress, making our cities a more pleasurable place to live and work."
An automatic irrigation system has been built into the wall structure itself, supplying a mix of water and liquid fertiliser.
Should there be a problem with any of the valves within the irrigation system, a text message is automatically sent to Frosts detailing the location of the problem valve.
The wall will be tended twice weekly, using a permanently fitted cradle similar to the structure that window cleaners use on large buildings.
Frosts will be continually reviewing the moisture content in the soil and climatic conditions in light of the condition of the planting.
Some of the species used in the courtyard include:
- Liriope Muscari
- Blechnum Spicant
- Vinca Minor
- Heuchera ‘Green Spice’
- Dryopteris Affinis ‘Crispa Congesta’
- Heuchera Palace Purple
- Carex Morowii ‘Evergold’
- Vinca Minor ‘Bowles Purple’
- Pachysandra Terminalis
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