{"id":7677,"date":"2015-07-14T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newprocontainers.com\/blog\/?p=7677"},"modified":"2026-03-15T00:13:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T04:13:33","slug":"living-walls-ada-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.newprocontainers.com\/blog\/living-walls-ada-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Design ADA Compliant Living Green Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADA compliance is something that every interiorscaper, architect and interior designer needs to think about when they design, specify and build living walls. It’s boring stuff, but knowing the rules is essential to creating a successful living wall installation that passes building inspection.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, a bit of history. The Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a> of 1990 (“ADA”) and its subsequent Amendments prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities and transportation. These sweeping regulations have made an enormous impact on building design, construction and renovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m certain that almost everyone reading this post has come across the dreaded phrase “ADA compliance” sometime in their career. In fact, I was in middle school when I first learned about ADA compliance. My school district was expanding and needed to enlarge the high school (built in 1957) to accommodate new students. However, in order to renovate and expand the school they would need to bring it up to code with ADA compliance. It ended up being cheaper (at least, that’s how this story goes) to build an entirely new school rather than retrofit the old building. I’m proud to say that I was in the first class to graduate from the new high school.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does all this apply to living walls? Most living walls (especially in retrofit situations) are considered “Protruding Objects” under the ADA regulations since they are mounted to and stick out from the wall. To prevent hazards to people with vision impairments, the ADA limits the projection of objects into circulation paths. These requirements apply to all circulation paths and are not limited to accessible routes. Circulation paths include interior and exterior walks, paths, hallways, courtyards, elevators, platform lifts, ramps, stairways and landings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s the official language from the ADA:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b307 Protruding Objects
\n<\/span>307.2 Protrusion Limits.
\n<\/span>Objects with leading edges more than 27 inches (685 mm) and not more than 80 inches (2030 mm) above the finish floor or ground shall protrude 4 inches (100 mm) maximum horizontally into the circulation path.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b106.5 Defined Terms
\n<\/span>\u200b\u200bCirculation Path. An exterior or interior way of passage provided for pedestrian travel, including but not limited to, walks, hallways, courtyards, elevators, platform lifts, ramps, stairways, and landings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ADA<\/p>\n

So what does this all mean for your next living wall project? Here’s the simple summary:<\/span><\/p>\n