Belfast, United Kingdom
City population: 276895
Duration: 2010 – 2012
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 500 m2
Type of area: Building
Last updated: October 2021

Skainos is a community regeneration project developed by the Methodist Church in Ireland’s East Belfast Mission. The Skainos Project has created the Vertical Gardens where around 6,500 plants make up the vertical panels, with a height of 12.5 m. The panels are designed to change colour with the seasons and will attract wildlife. The plants condition the air, remove pollutants, and provide seasonal colour and vegetation. A variety of roof gardens harbour natural flora and fauna. Green Roof technology is used to help with water retention. (Ref 2, Ref 6, Ref 7)

36-Skainos-Centre-Vertical-Gardens
http://staringonstreets.co.uk/location/skainos-centre-vertical-garden/

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings
  • Green roofs
  • Green walls or facades

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Noise reduction
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Regulation of built environment
  • Promotion of naturalistic urban landscape design

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

The vertical garden provides screening, helps to reduce noise, reduces heat loss from the building. Additionally, the plants condition the air, remove pollutants and provide seasonal colour and vegetation. The roof gardens to harbour natural flora and fauna. (Ref 2,6, 7)

Implementation activities

Vertical Gardens planted with around 6,500 plants on the vertical panels, that are designed to change colour with the seasons and will attract wildlife. A variety of roof gardens will harbour natural flora and fauna. Green Roof technology will also provide water retention. (ref 2 and ref 4) The vertical garden provides screening, helps to reduce noise, reduces heat loss from building. Additionally, the plants condition the air, remove pollutants and provide seasonal colour and vegetation. The roof gardens to harbour natural flora and fauna. (Ref 2,6,7) It is the only garden of its type in Ireland and the biggest in the UK, and is expected to be a tourist attraction (Ref 5).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
  • Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Create new habitats
  • Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect native species

Main beneficiaries

  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Marginalized groups: Low income citizens
  • Other

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Other

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

This project is commissioned by East Belfast Mission and will create a new heart for one of Belfast’s most rundown urban districts ( Ref 3). The manufacture and installation of the structural facades done with a Dutch company Vertical Planting, experienced in green walls and vertical landscaping. (ref 4).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Financing

Total cost

€500,000 - €2,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Corporate investment

Type of funding

  • Direct funding or subsidy

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate, energy and emissions
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Reduced noise exposure
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
  • Other

Economic impacts

  • More sustainable tourism
  • Stimulate development in deprived areas
  • Attraction of business and investment

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
  • Other

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

Ref. 1. D.On Architects (2012) Skainos - Vertical Gardens Plan. [Website not available in 2020]
Ref. 2. Belfast Telegraph (2010) New project to build community in east Source link not available in 2020]
Ref. 3. Stewart L. (2012). Wonder wall: Belfast's new vertical gardens. Belfast Telegraph. Source: Source link [Accessed on 21 September 2020]
Ref. 4. NI-NL BIZ. 2012. (Autumn / Winter 2012 edition). page 14. [Website not available in 2020]
Ref 5. BBC (2012) Vertical garden springs up in east Belfast. Source: Source link [Accessed 21 September 2020]
Ref. 6. Farrans (2012) SKAINOS UNVEILS SPECTACULAR VERTICAL GARDENS. Source: Source link [Accessed 21 September 2020]
Ref. 7. Vertical Planting Specialist (2012) Project Skainos Belfast Northern Ireland. Source: Source link [Accessed 21 September 2020]