A key component of sustainable design is adaptability. Good design allows for the replacement, or reworking, of components to preserve the value and materials of an earlier design when a situation requires it. Even if that situation arises early in the life cycle of a design.
Nowhere is that more apparent than when an error has been made on large complex projects where a miscalculation between initial measurements and “as-built” dimension means that components ordered months earlier in a project do not fit when finally installed.
You can see in this example where DeepStream’s modular planter design allowed us to cut down the lengths of planks in the middle section of a multi-section planter to accommodate an unrecorded change in dimensions at very little cost in dollars or materials.
While the wood will take a week or so to fade to the match color the same design feature allows for replacement of parts or further adaptation for the life of the planter.
To put the principal of Sustainable Design to work for your project go to www.DeepStreamDesign.com
Sustainable Design and American Craftsmen set DeepStream Designs Garden Planters apart
DeepStream Designs’ mission is to provide alternative products with a timeless design that are engineered and constructed so that they will endure for generations, reducing the impact on the earth’s resources, and providing the lowest cost of ownership over time. We are philosophically opposed to building cheap products that will be thrown away in a couple of years, or will end up costing our customers more over time.
Why are DeepStream Designs’ Mariner Planters different from the “knocked together” ones you see falling apart everywhere?
Longevity: Classic modern design engineered for the lowest life-cycle cost of any wooden planter never goes out of style.
Frameless Design: DeepStream’s proprietary marine-anodized legs and Anti-Gravity frame system contain and direct the incredible differential forces wood creates when it expands and contracts in the rain and sun, delivering decades of attractive service. Wood that is bolted or screwed together will tear itself apart in time as each piece expands and contacts at different rates, because they come from different trees and parts of trees.
Customization: Mariner and Audubon legs are available in various shapes that allow us to quickly build modular planters of infinite dimensions in any rectilinear configuration. They can also be single-sided to reduce costs. While standard leg heights are 21”, 31”, and 42”, they are available up to 144”.
Construction:DeepStream products are manufactured by American craftsmen, using yacht-building techniques and materials, and allow for damaged pieces to be replaced at the manufacturer’s direct cost via our unique “Core Replacement Program.” Proprietary dielectric paste prevents the stainless steel fasteners from seizing in the aluminum legs for decades of access. Proprietary copper treatment of any closed holes in the wood enhances the tropical hardwood’s natural qualities to prevent wood rot for decades.
Better planting environment with less weight: Your plants will grow better with less soil volume in many difficult sunny locations, because our planter-within-a-planter design prevents the root ball from overheating. Our design ensures that the sides of the liner holding the root ball are never exposed to the direct sunlight, which can steam a root ball that is uninsulated by a thick, heavy layer of soil. The outer planter box also hides drip irrigation lines, and provides for better controlled drainage, which is an important design consideration for balconies and roof decks.
Integration: Part of an integrated system that includes recycling and trash bins, wall systems, and signage, DeepStream Designs planters allow Architects and Landscape Architects to meet their clients’ goals with seamless plans, delivering cost effective solutions to a vital aspect of their projects’ sustainable design goals.
Isolation: We avoid the damaging contact with the ground and the planting material that you see in other planters by using molded recycled plastic liners that will never leak, and that prevent the soil from coming into contact with the wood. Our HDPE plastic feet also prevent contact between the legs and the ground or standing water, preventing galvanic deterioration of the finish.
Materials: Stainless steel fasteners, marine-anodized 6063-T5 aluminum, 3/4” solid tropical hardwood planking, recyled plastic planking and high-density plastics that not only last for decades, but also allow for a more elegant and modern design.
Value:DeepStream sells direct with pricing based on volume, and has very low overhead. This allows us to use the best materials and pay a living wage to American craftsmen, while ensuring that our customer is getting the lowest lifecycle cost for their project and the planet.
Green: DeepStream is committed to doing its part to save the planet by using recycled or easily recyclable materials. Our engineering and materials selections ensure that the products will last as long as possible, breaking the “throw-away” cycle, and protecting the earth’s resources. For every planter we build, even if it is from plastic lumber made from recycled milk bottles, we plant 50 trees in our customer’s name through Trees for the Future. For each recycler we build, we plant 100 trees.
While wood-on-wood planter construction will last 3 to 5 years, DeepStream’s Mariner garden planters are engineered to last for decades, giving the lowest cost of ownership over time, and are backed with a Lifetime Structural Warranty.
If your ownership or responsibility for the building where planters will be placed will last more than five years, give serious consideration as to what it will mean in terms of cost and disruption to go back and replace or repair planters, especially on rooftops and balconies, every 3 – 5 years.
The Mariner test planter shown below, with only an initial waterproofing at our workshop, has been exposed to the Miami sun and rain for with no maintenance for seven years.
The same planter shown below after sanding .014″ off the face of the planks and re-waterproofing and wiping down the proprietary marine-anodized legs with mineral spirits.
Wood-on-wood planter construction uses carpentry techniques that fasten wood to wood, and planters tear themselves apart with the expansive forces that wood exerts through repeated wet and dry cycles.
Why? Each wooden plank is cut from a different part of the tree or even different trees. This means each plank has its own differential rate of expansion and warping when wetted. This makes dimensional stability using standard wood-on-wood construction in two dimensions impossible to maintain over time, and shipbuilding techniques and maintenance are far too costly for planter construction. In addition, most wood planters lack adequate isolation from the soil and the deck or sidewalk, which promotes fresh water rot.
For centuries, wood dowels have been inserted into holes drilled into rock, then soaked with water. The expansion force of the wood is thus harnessed to crack blocks off marble and granite for construction, even though the blocks are hundreds of times thicker than the thin wooden dowel.
DeepStream uses proprietary marine anodized legs and stainless steel fasteners to clamp the wood and direct the expansionary so that the wood can expand and contract at different rates without affecting the planter’s structural integrity. The commercial grade rigid plastic liners, mounted on an independent aluminum frame, contain the soil and prevent contact between the soil and the wood.
Aluminum legs are protected and galvanically isolated from a wet deck by using plastic, HDPE, feet. Even stainless steel fasteners are galvanically isolated by using a proprietary dielectric paste so that they may be removed easily years later to replace parts or refinish the planter easily as shown in the before and after pictures below of a 7-year-old planter that only had the original coat of factory waterproofing and no maintenance. This “fresh” look was achieved by sanding off just.014” of the planks exterior.
Comparison of planks after sanding and before waterproofing shown below.
The near flawless proprietary marine anodized leg, show below, after cleaning with mineral spirits. Disassembly for sanding was easy thanks to the proprietary dielectric paste used to prevent corrosion between the stainless steel fasteners and the aluminum leg.