Plantscape’s Holestar for University challenge
Brunel University has ordered 100 Plantscape Holestar planters, which it has fixed to 50 lampposts arranged along the main central walkway of its main campus in Uxbridge, Middlesex.
The planters provide a tumbling display of flowers above head height like a traditional hanging basket, but there are no chains involved.
Instead, they slot neatly into custom-made brackets fixed securely to lampposts.
This suited the university’s requirements perfectly, because the open location of the walkway means that it can be breezy, causing ordinary hanging baskets to swing about in the breeze.
This raised concerns over the safety of people walking underneath, fears that will be allayed by fitting the more secure Holestars.
Simon Carroll, Grounds Manager at Brunel University, said: “The walkway goes right through the university like a central spine. It is quite open and gets quite windy so we chose the Holestar planters because they wouldn’t swing from side to side.”
The university has also ordered 22 window boxes and four traditional hanging baskets for more sheltered locations around the campus, including outside the refectory and nightclub.
The university was also impressed with the design of all of the planters, which are made from tough recyclable polyethylene and have in-built water reservoirs. These reduce the frequency with which they need to be watered from five times to twice a week. The design of the bracket also does away with the traditional two finger support bracket and cable tie-on method.
Mark Stone, managing director of Plantscape, added: “We are very proud of the Holestar planters because of the way they address a number of health and safety issues.”
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