Sheffield City Council and Marks and Spencer issue statements as green walls turn brown

The authority said a ‘small failure rate’ was expected on living panels on the former Gaumont Theatre/Kingdom Nightclub on Barker’s Pool.

The wraps have just come off a multi-million pound refurbishment but several plants on the walls have gone brown already.

It comes as Marks and Spencer said it had called a contractor to fix ‘green walls’ on two Sheffield stores: Ecclesall Road and at St James Retail Park, Norton.

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A spokesman for Sheffield City Council said: “The green wall system installed has a fully integrated irrigation system (watering) and drainage system.

“As with all landscaping work, there is generally a small failure rate when plants are first installed until they are fully established. Once established, the living walls should require minimal maintenance, with annual cutting, pruning and replacement of any failures.”

The M&S on Ecclesall Road opened in April 2011 with a huge green wall featuring ‘62 types of native plants and species of wildlife value’. This year it died and turned brown.

A spokesman said: “It appears there has been some drainage issues so we have a contractor visiting to arrange replanting.”

They also had a contractor booked for the Norton store, he added.

More than 1,700 people liked a post on reporter David Walsh’s X (formerly Twitter) feed with photos of the Ecclesall Road branch.

Some called it an ‘eyesore’ and a fire hazard. 

Property developer Tony Carroll said: “Don't blame M&S. It's really a failure of architecture and planning, substituting sustainable design, led by substance and evidence, with gimmicks. Sadly, our planning authorities nationally are very much on message with stick-on gimmicks, especially if they raise money for public bodies.”

Robert Cook added: “All green walls seem to end up like this, they just seem to be unsustainable in the long run. A big hedge or set of trees would probably have been a better and more sustainable choice!”

Sheffield Rising said: “A shame because it survived for a long time up to now.”

Matthew Dalby added: “If they want a good year-round green living wall in Britain they should just grow ivy up the wall.”

Sheffield University’s Firth Hall on Western Bank is famous for its cladding of ivy.