Portfolio Spotlight: Capital One Living Cubes
Elevation Greenroofs is excited to exhibit one of our most recent projects, a three-piece series of living art sculptures located on Capital One campus. Capital One is a nationwide leader in credit, loans, and commercial banking. Outside their headquarters in Tysons Corner, VA, is a brand new lawn where the art installments will be showcased in a limited-time exhibition .
Designed by Patricia Leighton, the sculptures consist of massive metal cube frames set askew atop an elevated metal display. Within the frame, grates provide a base for the plants to rest within. Sedum mats are installed on the inside of the cubes, creating a gorgeous green exterior.
Patricia Leighton is a Scotland native, known for her expression of natural beauty in her artwork. Leighton has created commissions worldwide: from Scotland; to South Korea; to Arizona. She’s worked for some instantly recognizable companies as well, such as Motorola, the Olympic Games, and now Capital One. This isn’t her first time designing green cubes either. She’s created similar sculptures with an art installation in the Georgia Art Museum titled Terra Verte, and on Broadway in New York City’s fashion district. The sculptures design highlights the juxtaposing natural beauty of the lush green sedum and the identifiably manmade quality of their geometric shape and metallic framing.
While this installation is a recreation of previous exhibits, this variation is larger in size than previous renditions. The heights of the three cubes respectively are 11.5 ft, 12.8 ft, and 15 ft, while the cubes in Terra Verte ranged from 10-12 ft. Additionally, the displays needed an additional three inches to be dug into the ground for bracing and stabilization of the structure. While previous structures have welded bars together at the base of the structure rather than rooting them in the ground.
The cubes are composed of an inner and outer frame made of steel for maintaining structural integrity. They were constructed by Lyle’s Welding and Fabrication, located in Sterling VA. Once the cubes were welded onto their stands, we could begin assembling the plants. First, we filled the inner frame with foam block insulation. Then, the sedum mats, purchased from Tremco Inc., were laid on the outer frame covering the outer surface area. Lastly, an extensive growing media, provided by Stancills Inc., was shoveled into the space between the inner frame and sedum mats to fill the space and allow for the mats to root. In addition to the sedum mats, seasonal and evergreen accent plants were added to provide additional dimension and seasonal interest.
The cubes are equipped with an irrigation system supplied and installed by Velocity underground irrigation and will be maintained by the Capital One grounds staff. If you’re interested in seeing this installation in person, head over to Capital One Dr in Tysons Corner, VA.
