by Shane Henson — July 19, 2013—Old and new visitors to Michigan’s Grand Rapids Downtown Market will be pleasantly surprised to see the “spellbindingly beautiful” living wall the market now boasts, recently installed by LiveWall, a designer of sustainable, durable, low-maintenance living wall systems.
Amber Ponce, business development director for LiveWall, says that onlookers are “literally stopped in their tracks, struck by its impressively beautiful display,” and notes that this is the best time of the year to see the wall, while the plants are in peak blossom.
The 832-square-foot outdoor living wall, perhaps the biggest in the state, builds on the Downtown Market’s many sustainable features. These include a green a 1,200-square-foot green roof installed by LiveRoof, LiveWall’s sister company.
A wall collage of green-hued plants was part of architect Hugh Boyd’s plan to complement the Downtown Market building design. Grand Rapids-based designers Pete Lazdins and Michelle Hoffner, of Progressive AE, assisted in the selection of LiveRoof and LiveWall systems. Local general contractor Pioneer Construction, who built the market, oversaw the living roof installation, which was completed by Dorr-based contractor Modern Roofing.
According to the market’s management, locally sourced and grown materials are essential to the ethos of the market, with made-in-Michigan aluminum railings and molded planter boxes, as well the wall and roof plants, which were all grown less than 30 miles from the market’s location.
