Refurb Projects July 2018

SUSTAINABILITY
Living wall brings new sustainable university
building to life
Robert Woodhead Ltd has
installed a fantastic living
wall at the University of
Nottingham’s brand new
RAD* building. The building is part
of the successful Energy Research
Accelerator (ERA) initiative in the
Midlands.
It will include laboratories,
offices and a central breakout area
in the atrium, providing more space
to accommodate the various
research groups, academics and
postgraduate students.
The building has been designed
to achieve BREEAM Excellent and
will include Passivhaus measures to
reduce energy requirements.
The wall is made up of a variety
of plants, all grown off site by
Woodhead’s specialist sub
contractor, ANS Global, at their
offices in Chichester. After six to
eight weeks growth in specially
designed nurseries, the wall was
installed using a modular system.
The plants are watered through
an irrigation system that is fed in to
each individual module, ensuring
they receive the correct amount of
water needed to survive.
The internal four storey living
wall at the already impressive RAD
building, based on the University’s
Jubilee Campus’, spans the full
height of one of the walls in the
central atrium.
Not only are living walls a
beautiful and fascinating feature,
they are becoming increasingly
popular for their health and
environmental benefits. The leaves
of the plants filter out pollutants in
the air as well as absorbing dust to
help decrease smog, increasing the
quality of air being breathed in.
A living wall is also able to
regulate temperature, which means
it can help to keep the building
warm in the winter and cool in the
summer. It also acts as a very
effective sound insulator, reducing
sound by up to ten decibels.
Craig Pygall, Construction
Director for Woodhead said: “The
installation of this impressive living
wall has been a really exciting and
interesting element of this project.
“The RAD building is already in
itself unique, specifically designed to
meet BREEAM and Passivhaus
standards. The addition of a living
wall just adds to its innovative
design and focus on the
environment, as well as its efficiency
as a building.”
Ashley Roberts, Capital Projects
Officer at the University of
Nottingham, added: “We decided we
wanted to add a feature in the
atrium of the new building that
offers benefits to the building users
as well as creating a talking point.
When a living wall was mentioned
we got really excited about the
possibilities and are delighted with
the result.”
The RAD building will join
hundreds of impressive buildings all
over the world to have had a living
wall installed, including the National
Gallery in London who depicted Van
Gough’s ‘A Wheatfield with
Cypresses’ painting on the hoarding
outside the gallery to draw people in
to see the real thing.
See the wall in its installation:
https://vimeo.com/264241554
16 JULY 2018, REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS