Chichester MP Gillian Keegan visits living wall firm as it celebrates 15-year anniversary

The business based near Chichester was established in 2007 by Richard Sabin and Mark Laurence with the aim of transforming urban environments and reconnecting people with nature.

Mrs Keegan said of the visit: “It was fantastic to meet Richard and the team from Biotecture and celebrate their 15th anniversary.

"They create incredible living walls which are remarkable to look at and have a host of benefits including, improving air quality, and mental well-being - transforming indoor and outdoor spaces with beautiful plants.

"Their creations made here in the Chichester constituency can be seen across the UK, Europe, and the USA - they are another great example of how the UK is leading the world in green technologies.”

Richard and Mark developed a hydroponic living wall system, which helped to change the perception of living walls from a novelty landscaping feature into a widely recognised cladding material.

Biotecture also recently developed a stackable, modular, freestanding living wall system that can be easily retrofitted without affecting the building structure.

The product draws on over a decade of living wall experience and was a finalist of the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Product of the Year 2021. The system has recently been used to transform areas across the Canary Wharf estate as part of a wider urban greening masterplan and the product is now available to consumers, retailers, and landscapers via Growing Revolution.

Richard Sabin, Managing Director at Biotecture, said: “The first 15 years of our development have been focussed on greening up urban spaces and reconnecting people with nature. Living walls have so many benefits for people and the planet like reducing stress, improving air quality, and increasing biodiversity. Looking ahead over the next 15 years, we want to embed ‘technology into biology’ to quantify that data, and show people how the living walls are positively impacting their environment. We see this as another powerful way of demonstrating a return on investment from living walls.”

As well as this Biotecture have developed ‘Active air flow’.

This technology involves drawing air through plant roots within the living wall to clean it, through a process known as phytoremediation, before feeding it back into the building spaces as clean, filtered air for the benefit of the occupiers.

“Technology is an exciting area of development, but we have to remember that we all have genetic and emotional triggers when we are around living plants. Often that alone drives the decision to incorporate living walls and we are very comfortable with that because it delivers important health and wellbeing benefits. The future for us is about biology and technology as far as we are concerned.”

“Since our inception in 2007, Biotecture has remained a pioneering provider of living walls.

“We have so many exciting new developments underway and a very strong project pipeline. By staying true to our original vision, Biotecture, today, has successfully redefined our urban environments – we are proud to have played a part in reconnecting people to nature.”