Green Wave exhibition stand

For the sixth time, Russia’s Hermitage Museum is hosting the ‘Imperial Gardens of Russia’ landscape exhibition under the patronage of the Duchess of Kent, where the display stand of a green roof company from Győr, also active on the international market, took first place in its category. John Brookes, who has exhibited at the event for years, came this time with an installation outside the competition, inspired by the centenary of the opera ‘Victory over the Sun’.

The aim of the event was not to present technical content or to inform, but to delight the eye and attract attention. Some stands focused on recycling, others on ecological thinking, but all of them strove for beauty! The distinguished jury (Nigel Thorne, President of EFLA; Marie-Sol de La Tour d’Auvergne, President of the French Gardens and Parks Foundation; Ain Järve, Director of Kadriorg Park) judged not only the end result but also the construction process (in the spirit of environmental protection): how much waste each exhibitor left behind, what materials they worked with… After the stand had been presented verbally, many questions focused on its design, the choice of plants and the many possible applications of the green roof technology on show.

Alongside local Russian landscape architects, three major German nurseries were represented with stands showcasing large specimen plants, as were Estonian, French and Brazilian designers. Besides installations of just a few square metres, visitors could stumble across everything from a mock wedding to romantic swings and artistically crafted giant butterflies.

Green Wave – about the stand

In today’s architectural culture, energy-efficient materials and environmentally friendly technologies are gaining ever greater emphasis. Smuggling nature back in, even into the densest concrete jungle, is not only a striking solution but an obvious way of achieving this!

The solutions on display at the exhibition stand present a small cross-section of the technological possibilities that green roof systems offer.

The pavilion’s gently undulating extensive green roof demonstrates how versatile the system is on both flat and pitched roofs. The veil of water falling gently from the roof symbolises the small amount of rainwater that may run off an extensive green roof after rain.

Beneath the pavilion there is a low, lockable storage unit and a spacious timber-decked reception area with seat cushions.

The open part of the exhibition area showcases intensive and semi-intensive green roofs, with lawn and shrubs, a tree and a variety of paving.