Avenue Primary School Downpipe Retrofit
see more at www.nunastudio.com
Design and Invention: Mac Van Dam
Client: Newham Council, Regenerous
Design Partners: UCL Casa Lab, UCL EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (Circular Economy Innovation Challenge Grant Award)
Engineering: Public House
video here
The living wall connects directly to a downpipe and acts as a sustainable drainage system (SuDS). It is designed to capture 2,500 litres of rainwater each year. The living soil acts like a sponge, holding water until the plants take it up or it evaporates.
The wall is unquely unable to take an vertical load, so a bespoke aluminum subframe transfers the entire vertical load to a single column anchored to a concrete footing. An integrated solar panel powers the system that recirculates captured rainwater through the living wall.
The Living Lattice system features a patented hollow lattice geometry that maximises soil volume, root space, and water retention. Built primarily from expanded cork—an organic and carbon negative material made from the waste of the wine stopper industry—the system avoids the use of plastics often found in the Living Wall industry. Coupled with a recyclable, lightweight aluminium frame, the wall is modular and free from adhesives, making it biodegradable and/or reusable at the end of its lifecycle.
The system is made of modular parts that stack to create a screening system that can be used in exterior or interior settings. The system is visually porous allowing it to be used in front of windows or curtainwall systems. The modularity and bracketed fixing system makes the system intuitive and flexible. It can be imagined as a large-scale ventilated facade system or an alternative water downpipe, connected directly to rooftop rainwater collection.
The system focuses on ruderal, low maintenance ecosystems and acts as a vertical SuDS, seeded with native wildflowers and perennials to promote biodiversity. Rainwater is collected via reservoirs distributed throughout the wall, slowly releasing moisture to the plants over several days, reducing strain on urban sewage systems and promoting ecological resilience.
