INNOVATION
Bringing greenery to the roofs of historic city buildings
The eclectic, and often protected, mix of buildings in the West End are generally not appropriate for a “one-size-fits- all” solution. The possibility therefore of greening pitched roofs with bespoke platforms widens the opportunity to a much bigger range of West End estates.
Roofscapes creates timber-supported platforms for adding greenery to pitched roofs
R ooftops occupy a huge greening, they have the potential to act as an energy-saving mechanism for buildings during cooler periods (soil acts as extra insulation) as well as having a positive cooling effect when temperatures rise. Typically, greening takes place on flat roofs, but in many city centres with historic buildings, the roofs are pitched. How is it possible to green this type of roof? Roofscapes, a spin-out from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, is answering this question. The company has developed accessible ‘green platforms’. These are specially designed surface area in urban centres. But, instead of simply being ‘dead space’, through
to be used with the pitched roofs of Paris but could easily inspire efforts to add greenery to other city centres, including to the many sloped rooftops in the West End.
Many companies and landscapers are already working to add vegetation to roofs wherever they can. But according to Roofscapes co-founder Oliver Faber, although this work is “awesome – and necessary – ‘roofs’ in this case always means flat roofs.” Roofscapes claims to be the only firm that has been dedicated specifically to making sloped roofs accessible and vegetalised – i.e. green. The system works by distributing the load from the timber platforms to the thick masonry and load-bearing walls common in pre-war European buildings. Greenery can then be added to the platforms to help mitigate urban heat island effects, encourage biodiversity, capture stormwater, and create outdoor spaces for communities to use.
Paris is known for its sloping zinc roofs, which mostly date from the 1800s, but many other European city centres, including the West End, have a similarly high proportion of pitched roofs. An affordable means of bringing greenery to these could therefore be a game-changer. Roofscapes is currently working on a prototype of its system, which uses prefabricated elements. In future, these could be adjusted to different dimensions and roof spans, preserving the integrity of the existing roof while creating space for plants and the benefits they bring.
Many companies and landscapers are already working to add vegetation to roofs wherever they can
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