Products
Living Seawalls are modular. They consist of a number of innovative habitat units, each designed to enhance a particular type of marine structure. The designs are the outcome of decades of marine research and support multi-species biodiversity in a wide range of marine environments.
Habitat units can be installed bare, or with key species such as oysters or seaweeds attached to their surface, to accelerate development of diverse and functional ecological communities. When co-located, habitat units of differing design can be used to achieve multiple outcomes at one site. The design, size and shape can be tailored to the needs of specific locations.
Living Seawalls panels are manufactured in reinforced concrete from 3D printed moulds to form complex habitat geometries and are currently available in 10 designs. Panels can be attached to seawalls using various techniques depending on the substrate and site conditions. Individual panels weigh between 23-30kg. See our brochures for additional information.
In addition to products, Living Seawalls offers ecological consulting and monitoring programmes to quantify the potential of new panel installations.
To find out if Living Seawalls panels are suitable for your location and receive a quote please contact us.
Habitat Panels
Living Seawalls habitat panels are ecologically informed, currently available in designs. We can also create a bespoke, site-specific designs. All designs have the potential to be cast into larger prefabricated modules. Specific designs may benefit different groups of marine organisms and when combined with different designs, they have the potential to support a diverse marine community. The full range of panels can be found in our brochure.
Rockpool
Rockpool panels contain water-retaining features, which are virtually missing from seawalls. In favorable environmental conditions, these mimics of rock pools are quickly colonised by different types of invertebrates (mobile and sessile) and algae. They are expected to be most effective at mid- and high-intertidal heights where desiccation and temperature stress are the greatest.
Swim-through
Swim-through panels have been designed to provide habitat for small fish such as gobies and blennies. The panels have openings that allow fish to swim through and forage between the seawall and open water. They may be applied at low-intertidal or subtidal elevations.
Crevices and Ridges
Crevices are a habitat feature that is common on rocky shores but largely missing from seawalls. This design is a modification of a unit previously tested in a global experiment across 15 harbours. In the mid-to high-intertidal, the crevices provide a cool and/or moist microhabitat and may protect sessile species from large predators at both intertidal and subtidal elevations.
Honeycomb
Honeycomb panels mimic a common weathering pattern of sedimentary rock. When deployed in the mid- to high-intertidal, the small “pits” provide shading and/or moisture retention. Across a range of intertidal and subtidal heights they may also provide protection to inhabitants from some large predators.