The Rubens at the Palace Hotel Living Wall

In August 2013, one of London’s largest living walls was unveiled on the side of The Rubens at the Palace Hotel in Victoria.

The Rubens at the Palace Hotel living wall

The wall spans 450m² and comprises pollinator-friendly plant species including buttercups, crocuses, strawberries, spring bulbs and winter geraniums. This innovative project follows on from recommendations published in 2010 in the Victoria BID Green Infrastructure Audit.

Rainwater harvesting tanks form part of the scheme and store rainwater collected from the hotel’s roof which is used to irrigate the plants, topping-up the mains supply. The hotel’s owners, the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, commissioned concept designs following a feasibility study by the Green Roof Consultancy and that we commissioned. They subsequently developed the project in recognition of the environmental and aesthetic benefits it brings to Victoria. It has  received support from the Mayor of London through his Greening the BIDs programme co-ordinated by the regeneration agency, Cross River Partnership.

The wall significantly increases the amount of biodiversity in the area, improves air quality by trapping pollutants and reduces surface water flooding by attenuating rainfall. The wall helps insulate the hotel and brightens the popular tourist walk from London Victoria Station to Buckingham Palace. In 2013, the wall won a Sustainable Water Industry Group award and thermographs of the wall indicate significant cooling. The wall was designed by the Green Roof Consultancy Ltd and was installed and is maintained by TreeBox Ltd.

Jonathan Raggett, Managing Director Red Carnation Hotels