High-tech greening systems like the 'living green wall' you may have seen in airports or new shopping centres are becoming an alternative to classic facade greening. They are increasingly used in modern architecture, especially for expensive, high quality, and representative facades in southern Europe and Asia (e.g. Singapore).
This greening concept is particularly popular with businesses in the green sector and those wishing to demonstrate their affiliation with this sector or, at times, a sense of luxury. A pioneer in this field is the Frenchman Patrick Blanc with his ‘vertical gardens’. Here, the greenery does not grow upwards from the ground or from planters set on the ground, but is arranged on the façade in the form of planted modules or fabric panels. It is fully established immediately or within a few weeks of installation. What’s more, such green roofs look remarkably good even in winter, meaning they are largely ‘evergreen’.
Such façade gardens are usually very expensive. In the lower price bracket, prices start at 300 euros per square metre of greenery (as of 2020); in the mid-range, around 700 euros; and there is no upper limit. The highest figure published to date is 2,750 euros per square metre for the greening project at Kottbusser Tor in Berlin. The “Bundesverband GebäudeGrün” cites 450 euros per square metre as a lower benchmark for 2026; see here: https://www.gebaeudegruen.info/faq-fassadenbegruenung. In 2013, the “Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture” received gross prices ranging from 915 to 1,278 euros per square metre from system providers for four different trial plots, each measuring six square metres (Jürgen Eppel, “Vertical Greenery – Future or Pipe Dream?”, 2016). The highest figure published to date is 2,750 euros per square metre for the greening project at Kottbusser Tor in Berlin; see here: https://www.berlin.de/ba-friedrichshain-kreuzberg/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2025/pressemitteilung.1623764.php
At the same time, these green spaces require intensive maintenance. According to the source mentioned above, maintenance costs during the two-year trial period ranged from approximately 20 to 150 euros per year per square metre. Savings are possible here, but only up to a certain limit (see below); otherwise, the greening risks becoming neglected and falling into disrepair! Greening in the lower areas – that is, on the ground floor – is particularly cost-effective to maintain.
The most modern greening systems, a "vertical garden" by Patrick Blanc at the former department store 'Galeries Lafayette,' Berlin 2022
The modular green wall or 'vertical garden,' was conceived from two main inspirations: 1) some plants are able to grow on stone with very little topsoil. This phenomenon is then applied to facades and fronts of houses. 2) suspended plant pots/baskets, as often seen in the streets of southern Europe; using a 'hanging plant' model but hanging the plants tightly next to and on top of each other, green zones can be created that are not punctual but entirely covered with greenery-- creating specific and also broad-areal effects. These two concepts were the basis for the development of the modern 'living wall.'
Plants grow in special pots, trays, plant pockets, or substrate panels. Irrigation equipment, together with pumping and measuring instruments, are usually attached there. They are commonly hydroponic systems watered by a drip-irrigation method. Also an automatic supply of fertilisers is often integrated.
Low-cost alternatives include: 'metre-long hedges' (a 'hedge wall'), or hanging systems with pots and plant pockets, which are watered manually and removed in winter. Another possibility is the use of self-climbers in wall areas demarcated by recesses or protrusions-- naturally occurring niches -- resulting in defined surface-area growth and a lower-maintenance wall garden.
The construction project, consisting of two residential towers measuring 60 and 45 metres in height respectively and a large ‘city villa’, was completed in 2022. The developer is QUARTERBACK Immobilien AG, while the design was created by Worschech Architekten in Erfurt. The design was inspired by the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) in Milan.
Vertical greenery was therefore planned from the outset, covering an impressive 2,000 square metres. This makes the WIR quarter one of the largest projects in Germany to feature living walls! The building complex contains flats of all sizes and layouts, a daycare centre and several commercial units on the ground floor. Everyone in the building should have access to a bit of greenery somewhere, which is why the green areas are divided into small sections. The Dutch ‘SemperGreenwall Outdoor’ system was used, in which the plants are placed in textile cassettes and watered from behind.
Such green facades are relatively expensive, as the cost comparison shows. This applies to both the initial investment and ongoing maintenance, and sometimes leads to the removal of the installations, as was the case with two of Patrick Blanc’s ‘living walls’ in Berlin and Vienna, where a luxury department store in each instance closed down and the associated greenery was subsequently dismantled.
A “living wall” or “vertical garden” usually achieves the desired quality and coverage very quickly after installation, meaning that the “greening objective” is reached after only a short time. The next step is to maintain this condition as best as possible through care and maintenance (irrigation system). This is where the aforementioned high costs arise.
Fassadengrün is a commercial supplier of stainless steel wire rope systems in Germany, Europe and overseas. Information about: Which plants are suitable, are climbing aids necessary, should they be made of wood or metal? Here at FassadenGrün you will find all the information you need from a single source.
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