Everything in the Lab is first-hand. We build prototypes, run them for weeks, weigh and photograph what happens, and publish the results — the ones that went against what we expected included. Where published sources disagree about a living wall, we would rather measure our own and show the working.
Prototypes
- Frankie — Before Meadori could become a living picture frame, we had to find out whether the plants and the watering would actually work. So we built Frankie: a rough wooden stand, three handmade planters, clay pebbles, a pump and a controller wired up on a breadboard. Four days to build, then two months and counting of watching what we had got wrong. (Ongoing experiment)
- Sam — Frankie, our first prototype, showed us that plants can live on very little water, as long as it comes often. It was never meant to look good. Sam had a harder brief: it had to work and be beautiful. Six planters, three kinds of plants and a real picture frame, built in eight days. For the first time, Meadori looks like the thing we set out to make. Now hanging indoors, lit in the evening. (Ongoing experiment)
Measurements
Numbers from the bench rather than estimates: how much water a planter loses, what it weighs, and how the conditions around it change both. Every run is published with its readings and its method, so the working can be checked. More are added as they finish.
- How much water does a planter lose before a plant drinks any? — We weighed one planter for two days on a kitchen scale. The first day it was open. The second day it had a mock-up of our planned lid. The lid cut evaporation by about 70%.