Balfour Beatty claims UK’s first roadside living wall

Balfour Beatty Living Places and green infrastructure expert, Biotecture, are delivering what they claim to be the first hydroponic living wall next to a highway in the UK.

The project, on behalf of Southampton City Council, started this summer and is due for completion in the autumn.

Hydroponic living walls are sustainable, vertical installations containing living plants and foliage which grow without the need for soil. Offering many benefits to the public and the environment, these green and living structures help to remove air pollutants through the absorption of gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as hazardous particulate matter.

Forming part of the newly reconstructed Millbrook roundabout that Balfour Beatty Living Places successfully completed ahead of schedule earlier this year, the company will now install the foundations and six-metre-high steel frame, while Biotecture will design and position the hydroponic living wall.

Richard Sabin, managing director of Biotecture, said: “Yet to be seen on the UK road network, the Millbrook green columns are evocative of the Via Verde highway pillars in Mexico City, and they’ll help with air pollution reduction. We are very excited to be working on this flagship scheme in Southampton.”