Elephant and Castle Tube Station Living Wall

Biotecture were commissioned by Transport for London to design install and maintain the outdoor living wall at Elephant and Castle tube station. Biotecture worked closely with TFL to ensure that a robust and sustainable living wall installation. A full structural survey of the existing building was performed to ensure that the structure was capable of accepting the additional loading of the living wall and inform design decisions regarding the fixings for the living wall. The lower area of the living wall was fixed back to simple timber cladding rails. The upper section needed to step out, away from the existing chimney stacks so for that section a bespoke steel frame was designed and constructed to mount the living wall to.

There was no available space inside the station to house the irrigation plant so a frost proof roadside cabinet was also installed that houses the water tank, pumps and valves that control the living wall irrigation. This is a discreet solution that allows our maintenance team access to the irrigation system for essential ongoing maintenance.

The planting design of bold circular patterns relate to the architecture of the building and provide visual impact with a scene of energy contributing to the regeneration development plans of the surrounding area.

The plants have been selected to assist in the capture of particulate matter, to attract pollinating insects and to suit site conditions of full sun (as the aspect is southerly) and exposed conditions to wind, particularly towards the top of the wall.

The colour palette is of varying  tones of green, pinks, mauves, and cream with red, orange and lime green accents.

This was the second project that Biotecture had worked on with TFL. The first at Edgware Road Tube Station was installed in 2011. To learn more about that project you can visit the portfolio page.