The Westgate vertical garden is a painterly, varied, rich, textured mural where function meets form. Perhaps most importantly, people who experience this landscape perceive the green world in a way they have almost never seen before, raising the profile of landscape architecture in a major way to an influential, thoughtful demographic.

Along with the 22’x11’ central vertical garden green mural, the Landscape Architect was responsible for other on-structure planting and irrigation work, integrated with glass architectural features about the pool deck. The installation and size of such a large, environmentally challenged landscape art piece in southern California is nearly unprecedented. The process required adherence to strict engineering requirements, careful coordination among consultants and the specialized vendor, pre-planting of species, and rigorous inspection of the installation throughout the process.

KTUA was responsible for confirming the feasibility and engineering related to installing a workable vertical garden system on the wind and sun-exposed 5^th floor deck swim pool area, including soil loads, structural loads of the green wall system, complex irrigation requirements, drainage, and the 1,300 plants that formed the vertical garden. KTUA worked with the project Architect, and the consultant team that included a structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and specialized vendor. In additional, the special nature of the project required specific cost estimating. The planting selection included four types of grasses, and seven types of succulents. Additionally, the 22’x11’ vertical garden functioned as large-scale green mural, becoming the focal point of the high-end resort style pool deck.