When specifying interior products for your next project, several key attributes demand careful consideration. This is when we start talking about the MATERIALITY. While sustainability is increasingly important, designers must balance environmental concerns with practical aspects such as durability, aesthetics, and lead times. Above all, the most crucial factor is selecting a trusted and tested product from a reliable company. This blog post will explore these critical material attributes, with a focus on how preserved gardens, moss walls, and planter inserts crafted with preserved foliage meet these essential criteria.

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Trusted and Tested Products: The Foundation of Successful Specification

The cornerstone of any successful interior product specification is trust in both the product and its manufacturer. Designers need assurance that the products they specify will perform as expected and that the company behind them has a proven track record of reliability.

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Garden on the Wall^® (GOTW) stands out in this regard, having installed over 1,750 projects covering 170,000 sqf of garden surface since its inception. This extensive experience demonstrates GOTW's reliability and expertise in the preserved garden industry. By choosing a trusted provider like GOTW, designers can have peace of mind knowing they're specifying a product with a proven history of success.

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Durability: Ensuring Long-Term Performance

Durability is a critical factor in product specification, especially for commercial spaces where wear and tear can be significant. Long-lasting products not only provide better value but also contribute to sustainability by reducing the need for frequent replacements.

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GOTW's preserved gardens and moss walls excel in this area. All gardens installed by GOTW since 2014 are still being enjoyed by clients, with a current life cycle of 10-12 years. Moreover, GOTW's specific rejuvenation program can extend the life cycle of their gardens up to 20 plus years, an unparalleled proposition in the preserved garden industry. This exceptional longevity ensures that specified products will maintain their beauty and functionality for years to come, offering unmatched durability in the market.

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Aesthetics: Balancing Beauty and Function

While performance is crucial, the visual appeal of specified products cannot be overlooked. Aesthetics play a vital role in creating inviting, inspiring spaces that enhance occupant well-being and reflect the design vision.

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GOTW's approach to aesthetics is unique in the industry. As a design-build operation, all 1,750+ of their projects have been custom designed, crafted, and installed for specific clients, ensuring no design is replicated. Their team of four graphic designers, with additional horticultural training, collaborates with architecture and interior design teams (often from Top 100 Interior Design Giants) to create unique and aesthetic plant art pieces. This commitment to customization and visual quality results in preserved gardens and moss walls that are not just functional, but truly beautiful and tailored to each project's unique needs.

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Lead Time: Meeting Project Timelines

In the fast-paced world of design and construction, lead times can make or break a project. Specifiers need to be confident that their chosen products will be available when needed, without causing delays.

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GOTW's manufacturing capacity is second to none in the industry. Their 16-strong crafting team has a monthly capacity of 2,500 sqf and an annual capacity of 30,000 sqf, ensuring even large gardens with 1,000 sqf surface area can be crafted within a reasonable timeframe. Current lead times are 6 weeks for small projects, 8-10 weeks for medium projects, and 14-16 weeks for large projects (around 1,000 sqf). This robust production capability allows GOTW to meet demanding project timelines consistently.

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Budget and Cost of Ownership: Looking Beyond Initial Investment

Budget is undeniably a crucial attribute in product specification. However, it's essential to look beyond the initial investment and consider the total cost of ownership when evaluating a product's budget-friendliness.

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The cost of ownership encompasses not just the upfront price, but also maintenance costs, life cycle duration, take-down expenses, and replacement costs. When viewed through this lens, products that may seem more expensive initially can often prove to be more economical in the long run.

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GOTW's preserved gardens and moss walls shine in this aspect. While the initial investment might be higher compared to some alternatives, their unparalleled longevity - with a life cycle of up to 20+years - significantly reduces long-term costs. The minimal maintenance requirements further lower ongoing expenses. Moreover, the durability of GOTW products means less frequent replacements, reducing both financial and environmental costs over time.

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When fitting a product into a budget, designers should encourage clients to consider the cost of ownership as the main budgetary parameter. By doing so, GOTW's offerings often emerge as the most cost-effective choice, providing excellent value over their extended lifespan. This approach not only benefits the client financially but also aligns with sustainable design principles by reducing waste and resource consumption overtime.

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Sustainability: Meeting Environmental Goals

While not always the top priority, sustainability remains a crucial consideration in product specification. Designers are increasingly looking for products that contribute to LEED credits, have low carbon footprints, and align with circular economy principles.

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GOTW leads the industry in sustainability credentials. They offer an unmatched number of third-party tests and compliance certifications, including CDPH VOC standards, 100% Bio-Based Test results, and HPD v2.3 for their whole garden system. This level of transparency and commitment to sustainability is unparalleled in the preserved garden industry, making GOTW the go-to choice for environmentally conscious specifications.

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Material Health and Transparency

As awareness of indoor environmental quality grows, specifiers are paying more attention to material health and product transparency. They seek products that contribute to healthier indoor environments and offer clear information about their composition.

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GOTW excels in this area, providing unprecedented transparency. They offer HPD v2.3 with 100 ppm disclosure and Declare Label for their whole garden system. This level of openness about product composition is rare in the industry and demonstrates GOTW's commitment to material health and occupant well-being.

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Biophilic Design: Connecting Occupants with Nature

The integration of nature into interior spaces has become a key design strategy for enhancing occupant well-being. Preserved gardens and moss walls offer an ideal solution for bringing the benefits of biophilic design into any space.

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GOTW's products provide all the psychological and aesthetic benefits of living plants without the maintenance challenges. Their preserved gardens create a connection to nature in urban environments, potentially reducing stress, improving mood, and enhancing productivity. By specifying GOTW products, designers can easily incorporate powerful biophilic elements into their projects.

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Conclusion: Garden on the Wall - Meeting All Specification Needs

When specifying interior products, designers must consider a complex array of attributes. From the foundational need for trusted and tested products to practical concerns like durability, aesthetics, lead times, and budget, to growing priorities around sustainability and biophilic design, the challenges are numerous.

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Garden on the Wall stands out as the only choice in the market that comprehensively addresses all these needs. With their proven track record, unmatched durability, custom aesthetic approach, robust production capacity, industry-leading sustainability credentials, and lowest cost of ownership, GOTW offers specifiers a single solution that meets all critical material attributes.

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By choosing GOTW for preserved gardens, moss walls, and planter inserts, designers can have confidence that they're specifying products that not only meet but exceed the demanding requirements of modern interior design. From trust and performance to beauty and sustainability, and from initial budget considerations to long-term cost-effectiveness, GOTW provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing you've made the best possible specification choice for your project.

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For more information on this subject and other related information, please visit our website: www.gardenonthewall.com

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