Every structure needs walls to shelter its occupants, but there is a special class of wall to control the vertical and horizontal loads that all structures must withstand to keep them structurally sound.

These walls are known as load-bearing, shear walls, and Vertical Landscape (VL) has developed an innovative system that can both hold a structure up and sustain vegetation on a vertical plane by providing flora with a place to be planted, fertilized, irrigated, and drained.

A Vertical Ecosystem Structure (VES) is a freestanding structure that when incorporated into a larger structure will absorb the building’s structural loads and create conditions for vegetation to prosper.

A vertical landscape provides the following advantages:

1. By incorporating a vertical landscape into the design of a structure, an architect can have the added green benefits of a roof garden while still being able to place photovoltaic arrays on the roof to receive the optimum amount of sunlight the site can provide.

2. With a roof garden, the additional load of the vegetation must be transferred to the shear walls, but with a vertical landscape the load is already on the wall, which allows heavier types of vegetation and also more diverse types of vegetation than on a roof garden.

3. Because a roof garden is overhead, a leak in the membrane between the roof and the vegetation can lead to costly repairs, but with a vertical landscape any leaks can be mitigated much more easily and cheaply.

4. Vertical landscapes are much more adaptable than a roof garden because a vertical landscape can be oriented in different directions.

For instance, if an architect designed a high-rise building in Phoenix using a VES that faced southeast, the vegetation would be able to absorb the mild morning sunlight but would be shielded from the harsh afternoon sun. This would create a microclimate where vegetation that would normally be too sensitive for the Phoenix environment would be able to prosper.

An even more diverse array of microclimates could be produced by placing vertical landscapes behind glass curtain walls: a condo dweller sitting on the balcony having breakfast can enjoy a verdant environment yet still see the view through a glass curtain wall on the other side, even if it were January in Minneapolis.

5. VL has designed a VES structure to pipe irrigation and drainage directly to the roots of the vegetation incorporated onto a vertical landscape, which allows the plants to be micromanaged for an optimum growing environment.

6. The higher a building is the smaller the ratio between wall space and roof space, so in most cases a vertical landscape could provide a larger area for vegetation and thus more vegetation.

7. More vegetation lowers the impact of Heat Island Effect on urban environments, so vertical landscapes would help alleviate this problem.

8. A vertical landscape can be seen by people on the street, but a roof garden can be seen only from above.

9. Vertical landscapes would provide habitat for wildlife.

10. The added vegetation that a vertical landscape provides in an urban environment would help filter air pollutants in addition to producing oxygen.

11. A vertical landscape would create an urban oasis where city residents could gather to enjoy nature and the therapeutic benefits that it offers.

12. As the Earth becomes more and more urbanized, vertical landscapes could also be used to grow fruits and vegetables for city dwellers to consume.