Procopio's Living Wall

A “living wall” graces the two-story open air contemplation garden at the top of the 22-story office building at 525 B Street Downtown where the law firm of Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch makes its new home. Also called a “green wall,” the unusual feature represents the law firm’s attempt at making its offices as environmentally friendly as possible. Here, plant materials are grown on vertical spaces. Unlike traditional trellises, these kinds of systems support soil or inorganic growing medium so that the plants are not rooted into the ground. The wall at Procopio was installed by Jim Mumford of GreenScaped Buildings of San Diego. Mumford is well-known as one of San Diego’s “Eco-Warriors,” an emerging expert in sustainable building and a green roof and green wall pioneer.

“The green wall not only makes a bold statement about our commitment to the environment, it also makes a strikingly beautiful addition to our unique open air contemplation garden,” said Tom Turner, Procopio’s managing partner. “Jim Mumford is at the cutting edge of a terrific trend, and we are pleased to be a part of it.”

Mumford constructed and planted the wall over the course of two weeks. It has two 64-square-foot sections on a north-facing wall, each made up of 73 individual plants, including Imperial red philodendrons, variegated spider plant, golden pothos, mother and bird’s nest ferns, arrowhead plants and various colorful bromeliads.

“Procopio is creating a healthy, natural environment literally from thin air,” says Mumford. “So many of us care about the environment and the legacy we are leaving our children. It’s important to us that we do business with people and firms who think the same way we do. It’s smart for a law firm to demonstrate its commitment to the future through the thoughtful way it has designed its unique workspace.”

Mumford has been growing green walls as part of his living laboratory at GreenScaped Buildings, using various methods and products that contribute to low impact development, sustainability and restorative buildings. In addition to the aesthetic benefits of his green roof and walls, they produce increases in biodiversity, cooling buildings and reducing of the urban heat island effect, carbon sequestration, cleaning the air of particulates and adding oxygen.

“The explosion of interest in green walls is nothing short of amazing,” said Mumford. “Green roofs are wonderful but not practical for everyone. Green walls can be built for a fraction of the cost in many more places and unlike green roofs, easily seen and appreciated up close.