Dukes Court

Client Background

Creating a contemporary public plaza and commercial amenities, Woking Borough Council are working to transform this quarter of Woking town centre’s business district.

Featured Solutions

• Viritopia Living Wall System (Exterior)

• Size: 460m2
• Carbon extraction: 598 kg per year
• O2 production: 782 kg per year

Welcome to Dukes Court

Despite the wildfires, Farnborough Air Show and an ill-timed maintenance horticultural husbandry visit (which involves a full trim and prune of the wall), we finally got the shots we wanted of this beautiful and cleverly designed public realm space in Woking.

Enjoy this amazing footage taken and edited by Solent Sky Services™.

Alongside the 400m2+ living wall, this video also stars Ian Tomes, Strategic Asset Manager at Woking Borough Council and Roberto Marchetti, Architect and Chartered Landscape Architect at Lizard Landscape Design.

Supporting local biodiversity

With the aim to support local biodiversity and improve the air quality, we designed the living wall to provide sources of nectar, an alternative ecological habitat through the use of soil and bird boxes, with a changing aesthetic through the seasons providing a variety of pollinators.

There are also a large number of species across the wall that have significant air purification properties, which will aid a healthier atmosphere in the immediate area on the plaza.

Sustainable greening

It’s difficult to get the true scale of this huge living wall.  Believed to be the tallest green wall in the UK outside of London, we’re pleased to have been able to work with Woking Borough Council to integrate some unique sustainable greening into this large-scale refurb project.

An environmental asset

Incorporating bird boxes and insect hotels into the modules, alongside a plant palette that holds a variety of plants with different environmental properties, we can firmly say that this is a real environmental statement in the heart of Woking, and will continue to positively impact the area for years to come.

(A few months after installation and we've already spotted a few birds nests!)

Retrofit over new build

Instead of pulling down the building and starting again, the more sustainable decision was made to use the existing building and re-clad a part of it, using real plants to create a different and immediate visual impact.  This is a great example of how green infrastructure can be used to revitalise an area, without the disruption of a new build.