Renowned French botanist, Patrick Blanc, has created his tallest vertical garden at a residential development in Sydney’s inner west.

However, the 33-storey north-facing green wall is merely a “practice run” for Blanc’s even bigger installation planned as part of the $2 billion Central Park development at the former Carlton Brewery site on Broadway.

The living artwork, currently installed at Frasers Property’s Trio development in Camperdown, uses 4,528 native Australian plants from 69 different species that are fed by a grey-water, dripper-irrigation system.

“You can observe many of these species growing wild on maritime cliffs or along the cliffs and rocky slopes in mountainous areas, making this project a kind of ‘Botanical Vertical Garden’,” Blanc said.

In collaboration with Pritzker prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, Blanc will also add vegetal wall panels to two residential towers as part of the Frasers Broadway development.

These living walls are set to reach up to 150 metres in height and cover up to 10 times the area of the Trio prototype.

Blanc, who is credited with inventing the concept of a vertical garden, told Architecture & Design that he is experimenting with the use of tubes and pyramids that can be entirely clad in plants as part of his work on the Frasers Broadway project.

As well as providing a green aesthetic, vertical gardens can also offer a reduction in energy consumption through thermal insulation, Frasers Property managing director, Dr Stanley Quek, said.

“Not only are Patrick’s vertical garden installations captivating, but also by putting these sustainable pieces in cities we are able to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and have them act as a natural air purification system,” Quek said.

The Trio development, which was designed by Fender Katsalidis, gives every apartment a balcony edged with louvered screens that acts as passive sustainable design and gives the building a “dynamic”, ever changing aesthetic, Karl Fender said.

Patrick Blanc has worked with many famous architects including Jean Nouvel, Andrée Putman, Francis Soler, Edouard François, Jacqueline et Henri Boiffils, Herzog et de Meuron, Marc Newson, Saguez et Partners.

His only other projects in Australia are the Quantas lounges in Melbourne and Sydney (2007) and Melbourne Central Shopping Centre (2008).

Gemma Battenbough

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