Transforming a Parking Lot: Littleton's Market Container Garden
Littleton's Market at a glance
- Industry: Gourmet Grocery and Café
- Location: Upper Arlington, Columbus, Ohio
- About: An anchor tenant of a strip mall that underwent a massive update and remodeling, seeking to create a multi-season, outdoor café and gathering space.
- Challenge: Define and enhance a large outdoor dining pavilion which was "floating" in a parking lot, by integrating a containerized landscape that also screens views of the surrounding parking area.
Results:
Oakland Green Interiors successfully executed a landscape architect’s vision, transforming the patio into a vibrant, plant-enclosed, biophilic retreat that extends the market’s brand and provides an outdoor oasis for shoppers and diners.
A Containerized Landscape Takes Root
Oakland Green Interiors was entrusted to execute the design concept of a well-known landscape architecture and urban planning firm for the exterior dining pavilion at Littleton’s Market. The goal was to take the newly renovated market’s pavilion, situated in the middle of a large parking lot, and create a defined, beautiful outdoor space that connected back to the market.
The core challenge was clear: bring a high-quality, containerized landscape to life. This installation needed to:
- Enhance the Urban Environment: Screen views of the parking lot and bring nature closer to shoppers and diners, creating a green oasis.
- Maintain Design Integrity and Durability: Carefully select and source plants that aligned with the designers’ vision and could thrive in the specific environmental conditions of an open, flat, and breezy urban site.
- Overcome Logistical Complexity: Install large, heavy containers and over 20 cubic yards of soil on a tight, four-day timeline while the market remained open for business.
The Execution: Precision and Planning
Oakland Green Interiors approached this complex project with a structured, phased strategy focused on precision, safety, and minimizing disruption.
Strategic Steps for Success
- Custom Sourcing and Container Handling: We custom-ordered large, weather-resistant aluminum containers that were sized specifically to the perimeter of the space. The largest measured 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet tall. Careful planning was needed to move, place, and perfectly level the containers on the slightly sloped patio.
- Substrate Expertise: To ensure longevity and proper drainage, a multi-layer substrate system was used: a layer of weed mat, six inches of drainage gravel, another layer of weed mat, and finally, a custom soil mix that included compost and organic matter.
- Phased Installation and Safety: The entire install was completed within the agreed upon four-day timeframe, with work carefully timed to finish before the market’s busy late afternoon/evening hours. We protected the patio with plywood for the front-end loader, used team members as pedestrian directors to cordon off work areas, and adhered to OSHA safety standards for lifting the large, balled and burlapped trees.
Outcomes: A Thriving Community Hub
The project was met with enthusiasm from the client, staff, and customers, who were “thrilled to see the space take shape”. The containerized landscape successfully transformed the exposed dining pavilion into a visually engaging, plant-enclosed space that provides an element of refuge from the busy commercial retail environment. The towering river birches now serve as a beacon, announcing the outdoor oasis to shoppers.
This installation demonstrates how expertise in plant design and site logistics, combined with collaborative urban design, can transform challenging environments into functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces.
Ready to Green Your Commercial Space?
Oakland Green Interiors specializes in translating ambitious design visions into thriving, real-world plant installations for commercial and residential clients. Whether you need a simple biophilic boost or a logistically complex urban landscape, we’re dedicated to bringing the beauty and benefits of plants to your surroundings.