Did you see that the Auckland-based  Natural Habitats Landscapes  recently designed and installed NZ’s first commercial interior greenwall?     Sexy, too, imagine getting your hair done with living, clinging, luscious  plants breathing down your neck…

Very cool reality coming from the land of so many fantastical landscapes (sorry, I just couldn’t help the reference to Lord of the Rings, among so many other incredible, breathtaking vistas: natural, man-, Hobbit-made, or  otherwise)!

Pip Patterson, of Natural Habitats Landscapes, tells us that Takapuna is now home to New Zealand’s newest and most innovative venture, The Department Store, providing a multi-dimensional fashion, art and beauty experience across three floors, now featuring a dramatic greenwall.

Completed in mid November, 2009, one of the greenest triumphs of the new store –  which is  also a New Zealand first – is the large, vertical, interior garden or “˜Green Wall’ in the Stephen Marr Salon on the top floor.  

Spearheaded by Stephen Marr, Karen Walker and Dan Gosling from Black Box,  the Green Wall was designed by Katie Lockhart and installed by Natural Habitats Landscapes.   The Department Store showcases the very best of fresh, creative New Zealand brands, and has embraced an international level of retail thinking by designing this unique space with emphasis on our environment.

The Green Wall is a natural extension to Stephen Marr’s environmental commitment and is unique in that it is double-sided and measures 10 metres long by 2 metres high, boasting well over 1,000 individual plants.

The Green Wall divides the upper level, promoting unique spaces that can be used for presentations such as fashion shows.     The building has had skylights installed to ensure the wall is given as much natural light as possible and the use of supplementary man-made lighting is kept at a minimum.   Although already stunning, the green wall is initially sparse as the plants adjust and dig in to their newly created habitat, full coverage is expected within six months or so.

Note:   We get a lot of press releases claiming to be “firsts” in  many respective fields – and we rely upon readers like you to set the record straight if this is not the case.   Do you know of another green wall in New Zealand that came before this beautiful one?   Let us know!

In any case, visit  Natural Habitats Landscapes  to learn more.   See the greenwall profile in The Greenroof Projects Database here  – and after many green wall entries to date,  do you think it’s time to adjust the name of this database to perhaps “The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database”?   Stay tuned in the New Year!

Happy Greening! ~ Linda V