One overcast and dreary day about two weeks ago, Silva Cells were installed in a tree installation at a car park in Derby, UK. (I was just informed, by the way, that “Derby” is pronounced “Dahr-bee,” much to my embarrassment, thankfully I didn’t say it out loud too often). The Connecting Derby site is a project… More
Last we checked, the trees in suspended pavement at the Bartlett Tree Lab were doing awesome at 5.5 years. Growing season 6 photos are in and they still look great! (Structural Soil twig on the left, Suspended Pavement twig on the right).
Illinois ASLA “President’s Award – Urban Category,” 2010 U.S. EPA National Award for “Smart Growth Achievement,” 2011 U.S. FTA/FHA “Transportation Planning Excellence Award,” 2012 Landscaping codes that emphasize tree growth, shade, and the minimization of heat-island effect are increasingly taking hold around the twin cities region of Bloomington and Normal, Illinois. The area, which has… More
While we don’t usually address super technical issues on this blog, we get asked plenty of questions about the engineering and testing that has been done on the Silva Cell, and rightly so. This product can meet AASHTO H-20 loading standards and is used in applications where strength and compliance with safety and testing standard… More
The City of Shoreline, WA is undertaking some massive public works projects, including a renovation of the Aurora Corridor. This project covers redesign and redevelopment of three miles of Aurora Avenue North that are a part of Shoreline. Otak, the design firm for the project, created a sidewalk tree median that is a rain garden…. More
One of the big challenges that we face with acceptance of the Silva Cell is cost-related. People love the concept and want to deliver big trees to their clients and site developments but don’t have the wiggle room on the budget for trees that they might for other site amenities. While the Silva Cell is… More
Here’s our latest Silva Cell video (you can see our entire YouTube channel here) demonstrating how well the maple trees planted in Silva Cells in 2008 are doing. These trees, installed at the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver, are from one of our biggest installations to date. Each tree received, on average, 700 cubic feet of… More
One of the lesser-known applications for the Silva Cell is what we call “on-structure” — in other words, built on a pre-existing structure, such as a roof or balcony. In the case of the Lincoln Center Barclay Capital Grove, the Silva Cells are being used to grow a thriving bosque of trees on top of… More
This set of photos is from a Silva Cell installation along Lincoln Road Mall in Miami, FL. This mixed-use promenade utilized Silva Cells in two areas: to provide additional soil volume underneath concrete mangrove water garden planters, and in a parking area along this iconic pedestrian walkway. James Urban, FASLA and Raymond Jungles, Inc. did… More
By L. Peter MacDonagh, RLA, ISA, LEED-AP This post has a lot of statistics. If you are tired this may not be the blog post to read. Reading it when you are well rested will probably help. The May 2010 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine has a terrific article in it, “What is a Street Tree… More
The first large-scale Silva Cell installation that we had was at the Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, BC. After being specified by PWL Partnership, a total of around 7,000 Silva Cells were installed by the City in 2007 along the seawall promenade adjacent to the Village. This large-scale installation supplied approximately… More
When we were first researching and designing the Silva Cell, Tom Smiley, PhD set up a research plot* at the independent Bartlett Tree Laboratory in Charlotte, NC. We were confident about the design principles used in the construction of the Silva Cell, but also wanted to measure exactly how it held up against competitive products… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
Request a Quote [email protected]
Tel: 415 781 9700
Toll Free: 800 458 7668
Toll Free: 800 277 7668
Fax: 415 781 0191
