Green wall systems specialist Tensile designed the cable system that supports one of the tallest vertical gardens in the world.
Months of meticulous research, testing, planning and design went into the execution of the vertical gardens at One Central Park’s high-rise towers. Measuring 150 metres in height, the vertical garden consists of 23 panels that stretch over 1,000 square metres. An intricate hydroponic system feeding the 35,000 plants on the facade is distributed from planter boxes at the base of the towers.
Tensile used a total of 15,000 metres of stainless steel cables and rods to span the 34 floors and support more than 2,500 plants.
Since a vertical garden hadn’t previously been installed to the elevation, Tensile needed to determine the impact of wind on interactions between the structure and various plant species at a height of more than 110 metres.
Tensile spent a day in the wind tunnel conducting various tests and studies and measuring the results. A custom rig that mimicked the design of the One Central Park building was built for the tests. These experiments helped Tensile accurately measure how much wind force would pass through a plant and onto the cable, and thus the building structure, allowing for a much more efficient system design.
The results from the experiments changed Tensile’s designs forever; these have now become the benchmark for green facades worldwide.
Tensile, Junglefy, Aspect, Oculus and Andreasens came together for the successful implementation of the vertical garden.
While the health of vertical gardens is influenced by plant selection, the gardens also rely on mechanical systems to keep them supplied with water and nutrients. Advancing vertical garden or living wall technology to the scale of the One Central Park development called for a commitment to innovation from all specialists involved with the interacting components, both during installation and for maintenance afterwards.
The painstaking attention to detail and collaboration between systems experts were rewarded with the successful installation and establishment of the vertical gardens, and the increasing recognition of their value as a visible symbol of green design. One Central Park was named the best tall building in the world by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
