Hey. Well, this will probably sound like an odd but maybe interesting problem and I'm really hoping someone can help me out. I'll first explain the situation. During my final semester in achieving my Architectural Technology diploma, I had to create an apartment building design. I had wanted to create a program which brought the building and the site together as one cohesive environment. Some of the features I had incorporated were different trellis type systems fixed to the building face which would allow coordinated vine growth across the exterior of the structure. Since my course was focused on just the technological end of things, I had no time to do extensive research into this. Now, I am looking into applying to grad schools so i want to further develope this end of the project for my portfolio. So here is some conditions/requirements the type of plant I am looking for needs to follow: -the site location is London, Ontario. Hot and humid summers (average around 30 degrees C plus humidity during peak summer months, and cold winters (average around -20 to -25 degrees C). -a type of vine with or without flowers, fruit, etc. -the building is 20m(65ft) tall which means that while some areas will be shadded throughout the day by large existing trees, some areas will have full sun exposure for up to half the day -must be non-disruptive to the building and by that I mean something that wont try to grow through the building envelope. (eg. my mother in laws house has ivy on one face and we noticed that it has worked its way around the basement window frame, into the stud wall and out the bottom into the basement.) -maintenance, while it is a minor issue I am not to concerned about sporadic growth on the building faces. while the trellis systems are raised 6 inches off the exterior wall surface, i'm not counting on them to "contain" the vine growth. also, the wall surface of my project was polished concrete panels which have very very small surface pores, but again, I'm not counting on this to control growth (although, if that helps control growth somewhat please let me know) -preferably a species which is "ever-green" Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If there isnt anything that follows all these requirements/conditions, could you please post what would follow most of them. Thanks for your help
Vines on a 65 foot building will be a pain in the rumpus. Any vine, even evergreen, is going to need pruning and care...want to get on the 60 foot ladder/stage and do that? So invevitably, vines in this situation get poor care, begin to look ratty, have to be stripped down, which is danged unsightly, and renovated. Buildings are not compost heaps. Besides, in London, Ont. your choice of hardy vines is rather limited. I think you would do far better to naturalize the structure itself with organic lines and materials and depend on your trees and shrubs and water features to complement that structure. Is it possible to incorporate rooftop and/or balcony/window gardens?
While I do understand that it would take effort to maintain, I don't think it would be an unreasonable amount. I'm sure there are landscaping companies out there that would be willing to take on the task. I've seen quite a few middle and large scale size buildings covered in ivy and they look great. so, either there are a number of people out there that know how to maintain the vines and can avoid the "compost heap" look, or, they dont maintain them but look as if they were. I have attached a photo of a good example of the concept. this building seem to look very decent and maintained so obviously it's possible. As far as methods go to maintain the growth (I wouldn't have suggested to use a 60ft ladder), using a system similar to window washers would work quite well. Now, I did just realize that because of my inexperience with specie naming/classification, that I may have confused ivy for example, with a vine. maybe its not classified as such and I apologize if there was some confusion. I would rather not use Ivy (because of the story in my first post) but something similar to that is what I'm looking for. As far as other organic features, I already have a full rooftop greenspace as well as smaller balconies with greenspace/gardens. In regards to the limited list of species, what would this list be comprised of? thanks
Virginia creeper is probably one of the tougher, leafier choices you have. And of course, the English ivies, which come with ecological baggage...they escape and choke woodlands easily. Clematis varieties, while hardy, would be too much work. All that said, I am not a fan of vine covered large facades. I can't think of a single vine covered building I've seen that didn't eventually have the vines removed. What is nice is spot use of vines. I think the building should be a building and look like one, not suffer being camouflaged with vines...but be artfully accessorized by green materials. Using natural facing materials or mimicking stone and wood is one way to soften the envelope. I sense in your initial post the chi chi fascination we seem to have developed in hiding any sort of development or technology by recasting it as a facet of nature. Not that the horrible building in your photo is anything but an eyesore...but even eyesores are not improved by smothering. I say, design a lovely envelope and accent it gracefully.
