Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Living Wall Graces University Atrium

  • 06/01/19
atrium wall

The atrium of the Jack and Mary De Witt Center for Science and Technology at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI, features a thriving living wall.

The Jack and Mary De Witt Center for Science and Technology at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI, features a 374-square-foot green wall installed with the LiveWall Indoor Living Wall System. The $15.5-million facility is a three-story, 29,500-square-foot academic building that provides a new home for the university’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. The Center, opened in December 2018, includes seven labs, group study areas for collaborative learning, and faculty offices.

“The idea of a green wall came up during early brainstorming on design goals and approaches to constructing a building the reflects and incorporates natural elements of God’s creation,” says Bob Sack, vice president, advancement, Cornerstone University.

The Center’s living wall was installed with two separate LiveWall structures with shared infrastructure. They were assembled so that from most vantage points in the atrium the living wall appears to be one continuous wall that spans the second and third floors.

The living wall aids in providing passive biofilitration within the building. The LiveWall structural components were installed on steel studs anchored with standard fill plates two feet in front of a metal screen that covers the building’s main cold-air return. As indoor air returns to the HVAC system, the living material of the plants and growing medium filters the air and biologically degrades air pollutants.

“The engineering and flexibility of LiveWall made it the right choice for the project,” says John Haadsma, commercial landscape manager, Katerberg VerHage Inc. “Simple, minimal modifications to standard parts and installation techniques turned it into a passive bioflitration system without the expense of more complex and costly systems specially designed for this purpose.”

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management June 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.

  • Wenger Names New Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts, Controls

    Wenger Corporation, which provides products and solutions for music and theater education, performing arts and athletic storage, recently announced the hiring of a new Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts and Controls.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Nashville Elementary School Receives LEED Gold Certification

    Goodlettsville Elementary School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tenn., recently achieved LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to a news release. The 81,750-square-foot school opened in 2023 and was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC).