Singapore Garden Festival 2010 – Veritcal Greenery for Interior Spaces

Many Singaporeans live in high-rise apartments due to land scarcity.  Vertical greenery is hence becoming more popular in interior spaces as it allows one to stay in touch with nature without losing much floor space.

However, not many indoor or residential home vertical greenery systems are available in Singapore.  Only systems for outdoor environment are available.

A simple system has been jointly developed by the National Parks Board (NParks) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NAP) for residential homes and will soon be available int he near future.

Design Competition by Ngee Ann Polytechnic and NPARKS

The sleek look of the portable, DIY vertical green system was inspired by some of the best ideas submitted for a design competition organized by NAP and NPark’s Centre of Urban Greenery and Ecology (CUGE) Research.

The competition was aimed at tapping the creative talents of final-year students from the Landscape Design and Horticulture (the only diploma course of it’s kind in Singapore)  as well as Product Design and Innovation courses. With only 4 months, from October 2009 to February 2010, the participants has to work on and submit their designs.

The judges from the polytechnic and NParks chose to incorporate some of the best ideas submitted for the prototpe to capitalise on the positive elements found in the various entries.

Final Product

The result is both delightful and versatile.  With its flexible, modular structure, users can install either a single vertical system or use their imagination to arrange a series of vertical systems for maximum impact.  The vertical greenery system is simple to assemble, easy to maintain and aesthetically pleasing.  Already patent-registered, it is designed to fit in most living rooms, balconies or other suitable locations in the homes.

NParks and NAP are looking for partners to produce and market this system for the residential home market.

There’s a DVD cum booklet entitled “Vertical Gardens for your Home” produced by NParks to help home-owners create their own DIY systems, using materials such as wooden racks, ready-made trellis and PVC pipes.  The DVD will be on sale at the Garden Shop at Singapore Botanic Gardens, Visitor Centre.