Bringing the outside in with an innovative green wall
All the benefits of nature are being transferred indoors at our hospitals as a new innovative living wall was installed recently as part of the Trust’s Green Plan.
A wall consisting of moss and plants has been constructed in our Children’s Hospital Estates department, along with the placing of desk plants, to improve staff health and wellbeing.
Biophilia, which is a term first coined in the 1980s, has become a commonly used practice within the building industry as it seeks to connect building occupants more closely with nature.
Inspired by this concept, Rajbir Samra, Assistant Capital Project Manager from our Vital Services team, created the wall which he hopes will be the sign of things to come.
As part of the project at our Children’s Hospital, our Estates team have also adapted their legionella tap flushing process to capture the water, which would normally be wasted down the sink. The waste-water is then used to water the plants and the green wall – therefore making sure our care for the plants reflects our sustainable initiatives.
Rajbir said: “We also plan to install sustainably sourced wooden slat walls which add to the biophilic goal while providing acoustic properties. We aim to introduce more initiatives to achieve our end mission in achieving International Well Building Standards and high sustainable building ratings and learn important lessons that can be rolled out in all areas across the Trust.”
Read more stories from across our Trust in this month's talk BWC available to download here.