New Living Walls at Wimbledon’s No.1 Court

The Wimbledon colours of purple, green and white have come to life within the No.1 Court’s new living wall installation, created by green infrastructure company Biotecture. With its flowering Hebe and Bergenia attracting the birds and bees, the new living walls are already starting to play their part in the local biodiversity.

According to Biotecture, there are several benefits to incorporating plants and green infrastructure within leisure and sports developments. As noticed by some Wimbledon tennis players, living walls can help to de-stress, whilst creating calm and peaceful surroundings, even in the middle of a highly competitive tennis event.

As well as the benefits to both humans and insects, the inclusion of living walls in a project or development, helps contribute towards increased sustainability and improvements in air quality.

Biotecture MD, Richard Sabin comments,

“The Championships, Wimbledon is an event where people have traditionally enjoyed their tennis whilst also connecting with nature.  Areas with greenery and foliage often provoke interest and satisfaction in humans – whether you’re a tennis spectator or a professional player.  We’re delighted to work with The All England Lawn Tennis Club on the design and installation of their sustainable living walls .”

Biotecture and The All England Lawn Tennis Club worked together closely to formulate the plant design, which is a horizontal, wave design reflecting the ‘movement’ of a wave pattern to relate momentum with speed, such as a tennis ball being hit.

“One of our enduring ambitions at Wimbledon is to cultivate the ambience of ‘tennis in an English garden’ for our guests to enjoy when they attend The Championships. Finding a creative and appropriate way to incorporate this theme into the No.1 Court Project was a significant challenge and we worked closely with the team at Biotecture to meet it,”

said Philip Brook, AELTC Chairman.    

The two living walls are in a prominent position on the No.1 Court exterior, outside the North West entries of the court and flanking both sides of the Big Screen on The Hill.  With a total area of 245m squared, the living walls are made up of 14,344 plants.  
The intelligent irrigation system ensures precise quantities of water keep the plants in top condition, whilst ensuring no water wastage.

Initial planning for the living wall started in 2014, with all the plants grown at Biotecture’s plant nursery in West Sussex from summer 2018 onwards.  The on-site installation at the No.1 Court started in February 2019, and completion was in April 2019, ready for The Championships in July 2019.

To see where else Biotecture sustainable, green infrastructure has been used to enhance surroundings, and reconnect people with nature visit www.biotecture.uk.com