Phipps Conservatory Production Greenhouse Living Walls
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
290 sf greenwalls

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: November 20, 2017

Mini Description & Details

Founded in 1893, the LEED Silver (2006) Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has been Pittsburgh’s green oasis for more than 120 years. The Conservatory is a green leader among public gardens – recognized for its commitment to sustainability including environmental conservation, renewable energy, green building design, and healthy living. Built in 2006, Phipps Conservatory’s 36,000-square-foot Production Greenhouse earned LEED Platinum for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance in 2012, becoming the first greenhouse in the world to achieve this certification.

In 2016 Phipps’ latest step forward in its outreach mission was the installation of green walls to demonstrate how families and community groups can grow their own fresh, healthy produce even where garden space is limited. Designed and installed by Michael Bechtel, the Display Horticulturist at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, they have the opportunity to study, evaluate, and learn about growing edibles on space-efficient vertical gardens.

The Phipps Production Greenhouse before greening. Photo © Lofty Views.

After completing testing with several living wall systems on the south facing wall of its Production Greenhouse Facility, Phipps now boasts 10 LiveWall Inspire standard panels with a total of 240 LiveWall planter modules. In the spring, beets, carrots, collard greens, kale, and kohlrabi grow in the vertical garden. Summer plantings include basil, rosemary, thyme, celery root, and various peppers.

More

Phipps Conservatory puts vertical food gardening on display with its living walls, and growing fresh produce on the outdoor vertical garden both educates and inspires visitors. And, a visit to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens to see the green walls can be tasty as well as inspiring. Guests can see vegetables and herbs growing organically on the green walls and then taste them in delicious dishes served at Café Phipps, named by Food & Wine magazine as a “Best Museum Restaurant.”

The living walls with a view towards the Center for Sustainable Living. Photo by Michael Tessler.

Year: 2016
Owner: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Building Type: Park
Type: Living Wall
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 290 sq.ft.
Slope: 100%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Greenwall System: LiveWall
Greenwall Design & Installation: Michael Bechtel, Display Horticulturist, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Plants: Horticulture Department, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

All the Info:

View the Phipps Conservatory Production Greenhouse Living Walls to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in
The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Phipps Conservatory Production Greenhouse Living Walls Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

Greenroofs.com Project of the Week 11/20/17 video photo credits: Courtesy of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, including © Lofty Views and © Michael Tessler; LiveWall; and Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens 132 By Daderot, Own work, 2009, public domain and Center for Sustainable Landscapes, Phipps Conservatory, 2015-10-10, 02 By Cbaile19, Own work, 2015 Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, both via Wikimedia Commons.

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