Green space is difficult to come by for city people, at least on the ground level. According to the book Living Roofs, rooftop gardens and green roofs are the new backyards. Ashley Penn, a landscape architect and Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute in the United Kingdom, records the plants and materials used in five projects from Austin, Texas, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The advantages of a living roof go beyond the natural beauty it gives. Green roofs may provide a variety of extra advantages, including increased property value, biodiversity support, air pollution filtration, and even decreasing stormwater runoff and relieving overflow.
Whether you choose to tackle a high-maintenance green roof with giant trees or plant a modest container garden, the resulting space may serve as an extra outdoor room for all of the al fresco sitting, dining, and partying you can squeeze into a summer season.
Gardens on rooftops have been gaining popularity in recent years as a way to add green space to urban areas. There are many benefits to having a rooftop garden, including reducing the Urban Heat Island effect, providing insulation for the building, and creating a more pleasant environment for people living or working nearby. If you’re considering adding a rooftop garden to your home or business, here are some design ideas to get you started. A rooftop garden is a great way to bring some nature into your city home. But what kind of design should you go for? Here are 6 great rooftop garden designs to get you inspired!
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1. Tribeca Penthouse Garden, New York City
A mountain-like timber seat emerges from a modular stone-and-lawn landscape here, HMWhite’s ode to the building’s design. The stainless-steel hot tub, surrounded by prairie-like grasses, maybe the ideal place to gaze out over the Manhattan skyline.
2. East Village Rooftop Garden, New York City
From a specific position on this roof, the Empire State Building can be seen, but a handcrafted wood water feature and Japanese wisteria-covered pergola ensure that the Pulltab-designed area seems like a quiet haven away from it all.
3. Hilgard Garden, Berkeley, California
This cast concrete sculpture by Mary Barensfeld Architecture is a contemporary twist on a tiered garden that employs ramps rather than stairs to walk up and down the vegetation. A tiny ipe-wood terrace towards the summit offers a birds-eye perspective of the middle reflecting pond.
4. Archilabo, Milan
Cristina Mazzucchelli’s industrial fifth-floor terrace, one of three in the property, has galvanised steel drum planters and a concrete outdoor kitchen, softened with fluffy grasses and perennial plants.
5. Romolo Private Terrace, Milan
Mazzucchelli created three unique rooms on an open-layout terrace by employing plants as walls: a dining area, a big lounge, and a small rest corner. Purple chairs look great with purple Japanese maples, geraniums, and sedums.
6. Mill Valley Cabins, Mill Valley, California
While these two cottages almost fit in with their surroundings, they are worth a closer look. Feldman Architecture, Inc. created a green roof on top of the lower one, which is studded with succulents that help intercept flowing rainfall.
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