Landscaping SALI Awards
EEN WALL STALLATION AT SPITAL
care Pinehaven , Gauteng raphs by Carol Knoll
idvest TopTurf won a Gold Award at the South African Landscapers Institute ( SALI ) 2016 Awards of Excellence in the Category Specialised Landscape Construction for the vertical garden at Netcare Pinehaven on Johannesburg ’ s West Rand .
Netcare ’ s policy covering ‘ healing and environmental principles ’ is being entrenched in the design of new hospitals . Director of Netcare ’ s Gauteng South West region , Sandile Mbele , makes mention that the hospital includes a number of features that reduce its environmental footprint and promote patient comfort . Natural light is maximised not only to save power but to create an atmosphere which is conducive to healing . Natural light plays an important role in maintaining a person ’ s circadian rhythm which controls e of sleeping and wakefulness . It therefore helps to promote quality rest which , in turn , helps the heal . Larger windows integrate the clinical environment with the outside environment .
on the green wall at the hospital comprises species that are easily acclimatised to an indoor ment as they grow naturally in shady , forest areas . In the atrium ( stairwell ) at Pinehaven , ts in the green wall rely solely on indirect natural light . Atria in the new hospitals along with between the ward blocks are mentioned in the policy as providing peaceful spaces within itals for staff , patients and visitors to connect with nature . These atria containing plant life natural ventilation by channeling warmer air to higher zones and then out of the building , g the need for air-conditioning . Indoor air quality at the hospital is also elevated by eliminating terials and minimising harsh cleaning agents .
pe contractor Jonathan Ferguson , Divisional Manager of Bidvest TopTurf ( who worked in tion with architect Pieter Oosthuizen of VDO Consulting ) explained the modular green wall tion at Netcare Pinehaven and provided some background to the use of the new South African for vertical gardens , Modiwall . The producers of Modiwall – every component of which in the Cape Town factory – comment on how plants and soil in vertical gardens filter out inants , improving air quality , and how planting also helps with noise reduction .
iled by Carol Knoll africandesignmagazine . com
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