Seasons 52 Santa Monica Blvd Living Walls

2014-05-26

Project Name: Seasons 52 Santa Monica Blvd Living Walls
Year: 2012
Owner: Darden Corporation
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Building Type: Commercial
Type: Living Wall
System: Custom
Size: 173 sq.ft.
Slope: 100%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public
Submitted by: Jim Mumford, GreenScaped Buildings

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:
Greenwall Installation & Maintenance: Jim Mumford, GRP, CLP, GreenScaped Buildings
Project Manager: Kevin Norton, GreenScaped Buildings
Irrigation Specialist: Bill Lyon, Plant-TecH20
Executive Chef: Clifford Pleau, Seasons 52
Architect and General Contractor: Parkway Construction & Associates
Architectural Supplements Supplier: Plant-TecH2O


Seasons 52 is a fresh grill and wine bar that invites guests to discover the sensational flavors of a seasonally-inspired menu and award-winning international wine list in a casually-sophisticated ambiance. The Seasons 52 in Los Angeles boasts an open kitchen, three private dining rooms, and a piano bar with nightly live entertainment.



Edible Wall pioneer, Jim Mumford GRP, CLP, created an edible masterpiece at the new Seasons 52 restaurant here in Los Angeles, California. This is the 23rd location for Season 52 and the restaurant is known for its forward-thinking seasonally-inspired approach to dining. The menu is orchestrated by award-winning Chef Clifford Pleau who envisioned a living chef's garden growing right inside the restaurant.

Mumford and his team installed the special Chef's garden built on an enclosed interior 61 sf wall to provide the freshest herbs for their specialty menu items, each of which is no more than 475 calories.



The concept became a reality, complete with a glass-enclosed controlled environment and supplemental lighting to support the growth of 125 types of culinary herbs including basil, thyme and oregano. Chefs and bartenders now utilize this interior edible garden frequently adding a fragrant mix to food and beverages. The glass-enclosed 140-plant Herb Garden with its own cooling system, temperature control, water filtration system and 600-watt LED grow lights is located inside the entrance and near the private Chef's Table. Throughout the day, chefs are encouraged to clip herbs for their fresh-from-the-market inspired menu.

GreenScaped Buildings advised the design team on the best type of living wall system to support the unique needs of harvesting edibles within a restaurant environment. Limiting factors included the intense light levels needed to grow edibles, how to rotate plants so that ones that had been harvested- now unsightly- could be replaced, and how to deal with the complexities of keeping the interior garden up to kitchen health inspection standards.



With the help of Bill Lyon at Plant-TecH2O, a custom system was built using Architectural Supplements planter trays mounted on a grid panel and retrofitted with a hard-plumbed irrigation system. GreenScaped also worked with the architects to design the glass room with specialized LED lighting and climate controls. The edible plants are grown in conjunction with the produce vendor for the restaurant and careful collaboration between the chef ordering the herbs, the produce supplier and GreenScaped Building's maintenance team happens on a weekly basis.

GreenScaped Buildings also designed and installed an exterior living wall on the property. The wraparound patio overlooks Santa Monica Boulevard and thanks to the variety of plants in long planters and the outdoor showpiece Living Wall, noise is minimized and the scent of herbs can be enjoyed while guests enjoy beverages and socializing outdoors. The 112-square foot Living Wall features 36 modules containing a combination of greenery including Asian Jasmine, Mondo grass, and Lemon Button Ferns.



"Imagine freshly cut mint for your Mojito - or just-harvested rosemary for your entree - that's what we provided in creating these edible walls for Seasons 52. We are so excited to be a part of the Seasons 52 dining experience. We are as committed to healthy lifestyles and using fresh, local products as the management and staff at Seasons 52, says GreenScaped Buildings owner Jim Mumford.