Green walls and facades

Green walls and facades, or living walls, can provide a visually interesting and useful way to introduce vegetation into the Darwin CBD environment. The increasing density of Darwin can mean that green walls and facades are an effective approach (with appropriate orientation and species selection) to increasing vegetation in the city that provides shading to improve the thermal comfort within buildings and reduce cooling loads on air conditioners, while also improving thermal comfort at the street level for pedestrians and outdoor eating. Research has shown that green walls in tropical climates can reduce ambient temperatures by up to 2°C¹.

Image source: Elliot Brown – Living Wall – Bullring – Spiceal Street – Chaophraya (C.C. 2.0)

Opportunities in Darwin

Living walls can be broadly categorised as the following:

Green walls – often densely planted and constructed from modular vegetated panels or vegetated mats that are fixed to a structure or a wall. Green walls often require significant maintenance (irrigation and regular fertiliser application) as they are not planted directly into the ground

Green facades – these structures support the growth of climbers that can be planted into the ground or in planter boxes. The use of structures, such as trellises, avoids the potential for the root system to damage walls and other structures.

Key points to consider

• Darwin’s extended dry season means there is likely to be the need for irrigation to maintain plant health during the dry season
• Potential to explore alternative non-potable water sources to irrigate plants
• Wind loadings need to be considered as the risk of tropical cyclones could be challenging to green wall design
• Maintenance requirements and feasibility needs to be considered, which will be influenced by the accessibility of the living wall

Further Information

Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation provide a guide for the selection of green wall species Living Wall and Green Roof Plants for Australia