Over the half term week Meristem installed a staggering 350 meters of Ivy Green Screens across four schools, including a giant 160m long green screen at Prior Weston Primary School - the Mayor’s flagship school for his air quality audit initiative.

Prior Weston should be a familiar name to avid readers of this page, as this was the second phase of installations at the school. This time our green screens provided an ecologically friendly pollution blocking perimeter for the playground on the roof of the building, creating a green perimeter to keep the pupils happy and healthy.

Haseltine Primary School in Lewisham, St Clement Danes C of E Primary School by Covent Garden, and Holy Trinity C of E Primary School in Chelsea received the remaining 190m of screens between them. We were very happy to receive some lovely feedback from Holy Trinity’s Head of School Deborah Lloyd-Wright who said that ‘the wall looked amazing, big thumbs up from everyone at the school. We even got lots of comments from passers by who were also very impressed!’

This installation coincided with the announcement of the new projects to be funded by the third round of the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund (MAQF). In this fund the mayor has taken aim at traffic, aiming to reduce the number of cars around schools by pedestrianising streets, as well as reducing the prevalence of idling by enforcing penalties.

These are steps that we at Meristem Design strongly endorse. Our installations are an effective mitigation method, but removing the source is vitally important for improving air quality, and so we have been involved in ‘Car Free Days’.

Last week we provided a temporary Parklet and entertainment for a Car Free Day to launch of the Tower Hamlets Liveable Streets initiative, in which Columbia road in Bethnal Green was temporarily pedestrianised, and utilised for a community street party. The local Columbia Primary School allowed its pupils to come out early to enjoy the day, and was also attended by the Mayor of the borough. This event showcased not only the benefits of pedestrianised streets to residents, but also the impact of reducing traffic on improving air quality, and ultimately the health of pupils - helping to illustrate the aims of the new MAQF.

If you know of a school that you think may benefit from a reduction in air pollution then please contact us!