News

New Year, New Shoots

by Leave a Comment

Growing Biodiversity in 2025

As we step into 2025, the team at Vertical Meadow is filled with excitement for the opportunities ahead. We replaced our trial panels at VMHQ before Christmas and were inspired upon seeing new shoots when we arrived back in the new year!

Creating Sustainable Green Spaces

At Vertical Meadow, we integrate nature into urban spaces. Our mission is to create green areas that foster biodiversity. Each year, we reflect on our progress and explore new possibilities in urban greening. By transforming temporary scaffolding walls into green meadows, we restore nature where it’s been lost, which ultimately creates healthier, more vibrant cities.

The Power of Biodiversity

The theme “New Year, New Shoots” perfectly aligns with our vision. Every new shoot symbolizes life, growth, and renewal. In turn, our green walls restore ecosystems, create wildlife habitats, and improve air quality. By focusing on diverse plant species, we strengthen local flora, fauna, and urban resilience.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Looking ahead, we are committed to expanding our sustainable, nature-powered green solutions. This year, we will continue to develop projects that bring nature to the forefront of urban design, fostering deeper connections between people and their environments. Consequently, we are excited about the new projects that will have a lasting impact on cities.

Together, We Can Grow

By nurturing green spaces, we restore balance between nature and urban development. As we embrace 2025, we look forward to growing, collaborating, and driving positive change. Let’s make this year one of thriving biodiversity, vibrant ecosystems, and healthier cities.

Join us to see Optima Meadow in person

by Leave a Comment

Following the recent launch of our living wall façade system Optima Meadow, developed and delivered with leading UK façade supplier Sotech, we invite you to join us to see it in person.

On Tuesday 16 July between 8.30am and midday we’ll be hosting a drop-in session in Stratford, London, where you can see the system in action and ask questions of our team. Let us know you’re coming, or just turn up on the day.

Join us!
Tuesday 16 July 8.30am – 12pm
2 Redman Place, Stratford, London E20 1JG. What3words ///from.title.sides

image of green wall, optima meadow cladding from a distance, invitation to join us
image of green wall, optima meadow cladding up close, invitation to join us

New partnership with Sotech to launch ‘Optima Meadow’

by Leave a Comment

We are thrilled to introduce to the UK market our innovative ‘living wall’ rainscreen cladding solution ‘Optima Meadow’ – developed in collaboration with leading rainscreen manufacturer Sotech.  Combining our tried and tested living wall technology with Sotech’s market-leading cladding system, Optima Meadow is designed to enhance urban environments and reintroduce wildlife to our densely populated cities.

Get in touch to explore how Optima Meadow can be deployed on your project.

The system offers a bio-diverse, attractive, and more sustainable approach to urban greening. By integrating plant life directly into vertical building façades, we are transforming urban landscapes into thriving, green habitats. It has been developed for permanent applications, sitting alongside our Meadow Wrap for temporary applications such as construction sites.

“The concept involves taking seeds from a meadow and embedding them into an innovative rainscreen cladding system,” explains Graham Todd, Technical Director at Sotech. “This solution is integrated into our fully drained and back-ventilated hook-on rainscreen system with limited combustibility. As always, design, safety, and functionality have been central to our approach.”

Effective from February 2024, developers in England must achieve a Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) of 10%, ensuring a net increase in natural habitats. We have collaborated with experts from The Wildlife Trust, Buglife, and Professor Nigel Dunnett to ensure Optima Meadow delivers on biodiversity, contributing to BNG as well as Urban Greening Factors and BREEAM points stipulated in planning permission.

“These vertical meadows not only help designers meet regulatory requirements,” says Alistair, “but also create beautiful focal points, allow communal roof space on existing buildings to be maximized, and attract bees, butterflies and other wildlife back into our cities. ”

Unlike alternative living wall solutions, Optima Meadow is a dry product delivered to the site, removing the need for pre-growing plants in nurseries or the wet and dirty transportation of fragile live plants. It is connected to an irrigation system, WiFi, power, and water supplies, and then activated to begin the germination process. Plant growth and flowering are monitored via simple inspection and apps, and the need for on-site maintenance is minimal.

It boasts a design life of over 30 years, equivalent to traditional hook-on rainscreen systems. Made from A1 components, it ensures high safety standards and uses Eco 3, 5000 series aluminium, which is 94% recycled, reinforcing our commitment to sustainability.

“There is a huge market for this product,” says Alistair. “We have installations in London and abroad and are in advanced discussions with various sectors, including data centres, schools, and commercial offices. Data centres, for example, have vast vertical spaces ideal for Vertical Meadow installations, which improve energy efficiency through cooling, enhance biodiversity, and reduce noise attenuation.”

As cities worldwide seek to incorporate more green spaces, Optima Meadow offers a viable, long-lasting solution to enhance urban biodiversity and aesthetics. It is now available for specification through the Sotech technical team. We invite designers, installers, and contractors to get in touch and see our living wall solution in person at various locations across the UK.

Vertical Meadow bolsters team with addition of Dan Jenkin

by Leave a Comment

Vertical Meadow is pleased to announce that it has appointed Dan Jenkin as Managing Director, a role that will help guide the business through the next period of growth.

An accomplished engineer, Dan brings with him wealth of experience and has carved out a reputation for leading and delivering on a diverse range of complex projects. Joining from Laing O’Rourke, where he held a number of roles, including Technical Leader for Infrastructure, and more recently, Project Leader, Dan is well-positioned to help clients navigate increasingly complex challenges, and act as a trusted advisor that they can rely on.

Remarking on this new chapter, Alistair Law, Founder and CEO at Vertical Meadow, comments:

“Having an industry respected figure such as Dan joining our team is very exciting and really shows our ambitions as a business. His wealth of experience gained in complex project delivery will enable him to bring excellence to our delivery and operations as we grow – ultimately advancing Vertical Meadow’s mission of ‘bringing nature back into our cities’.”

Dan adds:

“Vertical Meadow is a firm that embodies the same energy and ambition I have always admired in the entrepreneurs and businesses I’ve worked with throughout my career, and I am thrilled to be joining the team at such an exciting time. I relish the opportunity to maximise the impact of the innovations the team have made and drive the business forward.”

Meadow Cladding demonstrator with Josef Gartner GmbH

by Leave a Comment

We are excited to announce details of our demonstrator project with Josef Gartner GmbH (part of the Permasteelisa Group) which is currently being grown and tested in Gundelfingen, Germany.

Following the recent launch of our new Meadow Cladding system, we have been working in collaboration with Gartner to develop its first prototype of a meadow façade using our patented façade greening solution which grows native wildflower meadows that are designed to restore and enhance biodiversity in cities.

In the midst of climate change, increasing urbanisation, and legislative and policy requirements, the integration of green façades is becoming a necessary element in architecture and construction.

The project is the result of a research project carried out with Gartner – one of the world’s most advanced façade contractors – to demonstrate the integration of our system into a curtain wall façade.

“This new innovative façade explores new ways of making our cities more enjoyable and livable, offering vital year-round support for biodiversity whilst also helping mitigate urban overheating locally.”

Alistair Law, CEO at Vertical Meadow

As we move closer to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) becoming a mandatory part of the planning system in England and the implementation of more stringent EU biodiversity regulations, we believe our Meadow Cladding technology offers a great opportunity for sustainable architecture and opens up completely new possibilities.