NOVATEL KOLKATA
Category:
GREEN WALLS
Project general details
Nominator
Investor
Supplier
Architect
ECOGREEN LANDSCAPE TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT LTD
SPPL HOTELS PVT LTD
SALIENT DESIGN STUDIO
ECOGREEN LANDSCAPE TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT LTD
Location (City)
GPS
Country
Region
Year of nomination
KOLKATA
data
India
Asia
2024
Project specifications
The Novotel green wall is a unique design where the green wall is Bottle Shaped & wrapped inside a staircase. It’s a perfect example of Nature & structure blended harmoniously. Providing continuous greenery, working on multi directional curvature, connecting irrigation & drains, human movement from below the green wall were the challenges for this project. Only 2 plant species are used as the intent was keeping it uniformly green throughout the year.The stair case around the Green wall takes you up by 6m, but the helical climb around Green wall offer’s continued changing visual angles. This excites the user and takes away the fatigue factor.
Object type
Green wall area (m2)
Year of completion
Project in operation?
Commercial buildings
120
2018
YES
Green wall specification
Method of establishment of vegetation
A thorough planning, comprehensive Approach & site assessment played key role in establishing plants in this Green wall. After finalising on only 2 Plant Varieties, saplings grown in Soilless media were planted in Biowall modules. These Pre-grown were installed at site. It took about 6 weeks to grow & establish the Plants in Green wall Modules. Irrigation for the Green wall is done using 16 mm dripline with 2 Lph PC Drippers. Uniform distribution of water within Green wall. Water soluble fertilisers as well as medicines for treatment of rootzone are applied through Drip irrigation. Both plant varieties require minimal maintenance. Trimming is done at regular intervals to establish consistent greenery. With proper preventive measures, we are able to maintain thriving Green wall. For 1 year, we provided & monitored maintenance of the green wall. Later on our Local associate have taken over AMC.
Vegetation
Landscape Architect had given very clear Design intent of Uniform Greenery round the year, with minimal maintenance requirements. Kolkata climate is Hot, Humid with temperature ranging between 43 °C to 5 °C, cyclone creates havoc almost every year. Plant selection was done considering all these points and the aesthetics. Ficus blackii is used in exposed areas & Pepromia obtusifolia is used for covered area below the staircase. Both these varieties are dark green in colour with shiny leaves. It gives the desired thick healthy verdant effect & enhances the distinguishing the shape of the Bottle.
Vegetation layer
Considering uniform Greenery in multidirectional curvature, location of Green wall in 5 star Hotel adjacent to Banquet facility, visibility throughout the year, maintenance access, only 2 plant varieties have been chosen. ELT Growth media provides the anchorage to the vegetation & required nutrients are provided through Irrigation system at regular interval. Biowall modules were pre-planted in our Pune facility. Overall upkeep of this Green wall is easy. This Green wall is soothing to eyes at the same time due to interesting shape it excites the viewer. While climbing the staircase, people can touch & feel the vegetation thus further connecting them to nature.
Retention layer
No separate Retention layer is used for this Green wall. ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE together with Growth Media & Geotextile at the base functions as Retention layer. There is water reservoir provided at the base, is capable of holding more than 85 ml of water per planting cavity. Peat, Perlite, Coco-chips from the Growth media retain moisture. Air gaps in expanded clay granules, Grit, charcoal, etc hold water when irrigated. This has reduced irrigation frequency is 3 times per week thus bringing down the overall water requirement.
Filtration layer
A piece of Non-woven Geotextile made of 350 GSM Bio-blanket having upto 40% organic fibers & 60% recycled synthetic fibres is placed at the base of each Pot, below Growth media. It acts as Filtration layer, as it retains growth media, allows water to pass through without clogging of drain.
Drainage layer
No separate Drainage layer is used for this project. ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE has built-in reservoir with drain opening provided at the base. This opening drains excess water into the module below it. It can be further controlled by connecting this drain using 16 mm sleeve which opens into the module below. Growth media is mix of materials of various sizes which allows movement of water through the media ensuring efficient drainage of excess water, facilitates aeration & promotes white root growth. All this together ensure healthy & stable growth of plants.
Separate layer
ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE prevents growth of roots into green wall structure. It contains growth media within each Pot, it prevents spillage & leakage of water. A piece of Non-woven Geotextile made of 350 GSM Bioblanket having upto 40% organic fibers & 60% recycled synthetic fibres is placed at the base of each Pot. This allows water to pass through but prevents washing out of media and clogging of drain, retains moisture & provides root anchorage.
Protective layer
ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL MODULE itself acts as protective layer. This being Free standing Green wall structure, no waterproofing layer was required. Each module provides drainage, controls washing & blowing away of growth media, retains water, holds growth media and vegetation, provide root anchoring. PPCP made module ensures that plant roots do not penetrate & damage the structure. Excess water is drained directly into the lower module so there is no leakage of water. The angular curvature of the pot is designed to provide extra space for white roots in upper area and also provide shadow on lower facia during hot hours of the day. Modules are installed using Tongue & Groove joinery to ensure secure installation, to enable sustenance to high wind velocity, shocks & enabling secured installations in different tilted positions.
Root layer
ELT OMNIGREEN BIO WALL SYSTEM,(Patent No. 201721031762) a modular Green wall system is used for this project. Each pot contain enough space to hold growing medium and to sustain water supply to the roots, maintaining a healthy and growing plant without replacement for longer periods. Soilless Growth media used is combination of ingredients which are inorganic, inert materials as well as small qty of selected organic materials. It is a carefull and research supported receipe, mix of Wood Charcoal waste, Grit, expanded clay granules, Peat, Perlite, vermiculite, Cocochips, treated organic manure & oil cakes & slow release fertilizers. Mix is treated with fungicide & insecticide to avoid any contamination. The life of the media when under best ELT practices is more than 10 years. The weight per cft when fully saturated with water is less than 18 kg. More importance is given to long term sustainability than just making light in weight.
Project video
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