Did you see that the Auckland-based Natural Habitats Landscapes recently designed and installed NZ’s first commercial interior greenwall?   Sexy, too, imagine getting your hair done with living, clinging, luscious plants breathing down your neck…

Very cool reality coming from the land of so many fantastical landscapes (sorry, I just couldn’t help the reference to Lord of the Rings, among so many other incredible, breathtaking vistas: natural, man-, Hobbit-made, or otherwise)!

Pip Patterson, of Natural Habitats Landscapes, tells us that Takapuna is now home to New Zealand’s newest and most innovative venture, The Department Store, providing a multi-dimensional fashion, art and beauty experience across three floors, now featuring a dramatic greenwall.

Completed in mid November, 2009, one of the greenest triumphs of the new store - which is also a New Zealand first – is the large, vertical, interior garden or ‘Green Wall’ in the Stephen Marr Salon on the top floor. 

Spearheaded by Stephen Marr, Karen Walker and Dan Gosling from Black Box, the Green Wall was designed by Katie Lockhart and installed by Natural Habitats Landscapes.  The Department Store showcases the very best of fresh, creative New Zealand brands, and has embraced an international level of retail thinking by designing this unique space with emphasis on our environment.

The Green Wall is a natural extension to Stephen Marr’s environmental commitment and is unique in that it is double-sided and measures 10 metres long by 2 metres high, boasting well over 1,000 individual plants.

The Green Wall divides the upper level, promoting unique spaces that can be used for presentations such as fashion shows.   The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall is given as much natural light as possible and the use of supplementary man-made lighting is kept at a minimum.  Although already stunning, the green wall is initially sparse as the plants adjust and dig in to their newly created habitat, full coverage is expected within six months or so.

Note:  We get a lot of press releases claiming to be “firsts” in many respective fields – and we rely upon readers like you to set the record straight if this is not the case.  Do you know of another green wall in New Zealand that came before this beautiful one?  Let us know!

In any case, visit Natural Habitats Landscapes to learn more.  See the greenwall profile in The Greenroof Projects Database here - and after many green wall entries to date, do you think it’s time to adjust the name of this database to perhaps “The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database”?  Stay tuned in the New Year!

Happy Greening! ~ Linda V

Did you know that yesterday, December 3, was “National Roof Over Your Head Day?”  I didn’t, but now I’ll put it on my calendar for 2010.  Similar, I guess, to Thanksgiving, on this day we are supposed to appreciate the things we have, starting literally with the roof over our heads.  For most of us, a roof over our head means living in a home that protects us from the elements, keeping us warm, dry, safe, and cozy.  Lots of us take this basic necessity of life for granted, forgetting that so many people in the world are homeless with no shelter.  We’re all about greenroofs here, but of course we have to have a roof first before we can green it!  As we enter the holiday season, let’s remember those less fortunate by contributing our time, goods, or money to those in need.

Ben from Listicles says we should be doing things to help others who aren’t so fortunate, like making a donation to a shelter.  But on a lighter note, he writes, “We should also be thankful for things we don’t have, like unwanted and inappropriate objects on those roofs over our heads.”  So they compiled some such examples of “10 Odd Things on Roofs” that you probably don’t want over your head, either, and I just had to share more of these:

See the rest of the Listicles photos here.  So how about a National Greenroof Day?  You never know, it could be coming one of these years!  Here’s one of my own favorite Odd Things You Don’t Want on a Roof:

~ Linda V.

An exclusive of Greenroofs.com, we’re now in our third year of publishing the “Greenroofs of the World™” 12-Month Wall Calendar series.  The 2010 version is now available and it’s filled with beautiful living roof projects and even more green building events from around the world than the previous last two years. 

I thought it might be interesting to some of you to learn about the design process, why and how we choose the highlighted projects – the ideology behind the product, which is our first.  Although I’ve been wanting to write a book (or two) for the last nine or so years, prior to the calendar all our “products” have been intellectual property offerings.  And as you probably know, all of the information on Greenroofs.com is free and without subscription, following an open source philosophy of information sharing.

I had been wanting to do a calendar for years as it was an obvious add on to The Greenroof Projects Database as well as complimentary to our Upcoming Events section where we list conferences, workshops, presentations, etc., from around the world.  So, voilá!  2008 marked the first year of the Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar series.  How do we select our featured projects?  From our website Sponsors, which is the highest level of advertising we offer on Greenroofs.com.  It’s our way to highlight fabulous examples of sustainable roof design and thank these companies who back us up by marketing their ecologically friendly products and services with us.  Each chooses their desired month on a first come, first serve basis.  I ask for two of their favorite projects each along with several shots each.  Then the fun starts!  I try and represent different types of greenroofs, sizes, and geographic locations within the U.S. and the world – and of course, the quality of the photo is a huge factor.  This is what is most time consuming!  We include a short description under each photo, and do our best to list all major designers/manufacturers of record, including the Sponsor.

As you know, greenroofs can be used at any scale, and in the past our smallest featured vegetated roof came in at 52 sf here in Atlanta, Georgia (2008), and the largest was a whopping 765,000 sf in Zaragoza, Spain (2009). For 2010, Calendar projects range from 1,000 sf in Manhattan, New York to 113,000 sf in Minneapolis, Minnesota, see below:

In addition to displaying eye-catching greenroofs, we also desired an eco friendly product, and I feel like we do create a truly eco-chic calendar!  Our 11″ x 18″ full-color glossy 12-month wall calendars are printed on 50% recycled paper with 25% post consumer waste using soy inks.  We use The Messenger Press of Carthagena, Ohio where Randy Heitkamp does a great job of printing excellent quality work – and we recommend him highly.

This year we decided to go global, and you can purchase the 2010 Calendar on Amazon.com as well as from us directly.  But I will say that you’ll save money by ordering through us at only $12.95 each, with free shipping in the contiguous U.S. and Canada (contact us for international shipping rates).  And there are quantity discounts, too.

The 2010 Greenroofs of the World™ 12-Month Wall Calendar will make a great inexpensive Christmas/Holiday gift or stocking stuffer (well, if you have a really wide stocking!) for all you greenroof aficionados out there.  See our Press Release here, where you can view each project highlighted in The Greenroof Projects Database.  And find out the details for ordering here.

 Happy Holidays!  ~ Linda V.