Designed by Dusty Gedge of the GRC, the roof was funded by SITA NATURE ENHANCED funds. The project was delivered by Buglife in association with livingroofs.org.
Original white roofs appear to have been originally designed to have soils and vegetation on the building. When the waterproofing came up for renewal it was the perfect opportunity to add a little beetlemania to the roof.

Long term Green Roof Research on beetles and other invertebrates
Studies in the UK and Switzerland show that green roofs can attract rare invertebrates, including beetles. The Abbey Hive green roof has been planted out with a variety of wildflowers including Autumn Hawkbit, (Leontodon autumnalis), which is the host plant for a rare ground beetle. This beetle has been found on the Laban Dance Centre and is an important biodiversity action plan species for the London Olympics.

Installation

The roof was installed in July 2011 by Landmark Livingroofs Ltd using an Optigreen system as the basis of the green roof. And intricate design of varied substrates and wildflowers was created for the Buglife Project by Dusty, with Dr. G.Kadas, is well known for his work on green roofs and biodiversity. Two months on the green roof is alive and over the years will hopefully develop into a wildlife meadow rich in beetles!

This a perfect example of with the right knowledge and understanding of green roofs ‘biodiverse’ green roofs can be created that fulfill the all the benefits of green roofs and yet provide for targeted wildlife. the use of the off the shelf solutions is one way to achieve green roofing but a design lead process can achieve exemplar results. This is what GRC specialises in and has a track record of delivering.

The Abbey Hive joins other green roofs in the Buglife Project designed by GRC that are being monitored for rare invertebrates including UEL Green Roof Field Station, the Islington Municapal Offices, Lewisham Council and 55 Broadway.

Photograph – Courtesy of Lend Lease

The green roof is in it’s early stages and has been planted with a variety of sedum sp  and seeded with wildflower seeds collected within the greater Thames Gateway area and of green roofs in London and Essex. This give the roof some local provenance and ensure that plants are ‘conditioned’ to the harsh environment at roof level. The green roof was installed by Blackdown, who worked closely with GRC to ensure that green roofs meet the design and specification for biodiversity.

Further seeds will be collected over the summer and added later. One plant will be collected by Bluewater Community Forum group. The Italian catchfly (Silene italica) is only known from 2 sites in the UK – Greenhithe and Gosport, in Hampshire. The seeds will be collected and cast across the roof. Silene such as White and Sea campion and Night-flowering Catchfly are commonly used on green roofs, so it is hoped that the plant will flourish on the dry conditions at roof level.

Part of the rationale for the design and specification of the  roof at The Events Venue, Bluewater, which will be the largest in the Thames Gateway area, is to provide habitat for rare invertebrates, especially rare bees.

The roof will be monitored by Dr. Kadas and Dr. Connop of UEL. We are hoping that local populations of Bombus humilis and  Bombus sylvarum will be found foraging on the roof in late summer once some of the wildflowers have started to bloom. There is no scientific evidence as yet of the two  Bombus species using green roofs in the UK. However several individuals were noticed feeding on a green roof field station in Barking Riverside last year. Lend Lease  are funding the research and hopefully there will be positive news later in the year.

A view of the Wat Tyler Green Roof in Essex

Wat Tyler is at the heart of an very important area of England for rare invertebrates. The roof was designed to provide habitat and to show that well designed green roofs can provide important habitat on buildings for many rare invertebrates associated with brownfield land.

The habitat walls/bee hotels were installed to provide additional habitat for mining and other solitary bees. In the second year many have taken up residence in our bespoke habitat walls.

Bee residences in habitat wall

Bee hotel with bee nests

Bee hotel and bee nests

The roof is also being monitored by the green roof research team at UEL lead by Dr. Kadas, who is one of leading green roof zoologists in the world. These pictures were taken on a recent site visit. The monitoring is part of a project that has been monitoring  roofs since 2002. By 2012 we will have ten years of data on how different green roof systems and designs perform for rare invertebrates and especially rare bees such as Bombus humilis and suylvarum.

Let’s hope both of these bee species are seen on the roof this year as they were last year on the UEL Barking Riverside Green Roof Research Station.

The habitat wall designed featured on the recent SIlver Gilt garden, designed by Nigel Dunnett at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The walls and hotels were part of a green roof shipping container that was transformed into a garden office. The office came complete with a special green roof and many habitat features for biodiversity.

The Wat Tyler green roof was a Buglife – the Invertebrate Charity ‘South Essex Stepping Stone Project. The project was funded by the Tubney Charitable Trust, Veolia and Essex Environment Trust.

A sunken garden at the Museum of London

There has been a green roof at the Museum for many years. It is a sunken garden. Last year the Museum created another garden specifically for their Honey Bees. We helped add to this garden by designing and specifying a new wildflower system that is now coming into it’s own.

Widlfower mat in full bloom at Museum of London

A series of small green roofs have already been installed. These are mainly sedum substrate based extensive green roofs. Two areas have been planted with a new wildflower blankets/mats that has been developed by Bauder. As a consultancy we are working with MOL because we were recommended by Bauder, who are  one of the UK’s leading green roof companies. A couple of roofs are also a mix of sedums and wildflower planting in keeping with the principles and approaches we have developed over the last ten years through the seminal research on green roofs and biodiversity in the UK and Switzerland.

Roofs yet to be turned into green roofs at Museum of London

However what excites us and MOL is the large areas of roofs that have already been root protected and are yet to be greened. These offer the opportunity to do something really exciting in terms of design – creation of dry riverbed and ‘coastal’ green roofs, woodland planting, semi-intensive ‘Mediterranean’ planting and species rich grassland.

We have also been working with UEL, MOL and GLA on a small area of roof, which  will be a research station as part of the Drain London project. This will monitor the impact of the green roofs on intense summer storms and ascertain how green roofs can help reduce the likelihood of flash floods in the summertime.

GRC was commissioned 4 years ago to ‘improve’ a simple sedum blanket green roof in the City of London. The features installed have created a more diverse environment that not only benefits native wildflife but also the resident Honey Bees that live in two hives on the roof.

The original green roof system that was installed is showing signs of ‘wear’ and ‘tear’ and GRC are providing expert advise to Evershed’s Ltd to improve the quality of the sedum roof using simple techniques. Bare areas that have formed on the roof will be treated using a specific technique to re-establish the sedum cover and to also increase the diversity of flora species.

For more other post’s on this roof…

Green Roof in The Shadow of St. Paul’s

A Splash of Blue in the Shadow of St. Paul’s

A Splash of Blue in the Shadow of St. Paul’s 2

Here I describe the various products on show. These walls have only recently been installed and will not look their best for some time, so judgement should not be made on appearance alone. I will look again in a few months when plants will have a chance to grow and report back then. There will also be information available on water consumption rates at a later date. Note that there are other products available not on show at Radlett. These include the various substrate based systems using HDPE panels from companies including Frosts, Scotscapes and ANS in the UK and ELT Easy Green from Canada. There are also products from the US and China which do not feature here.

Optigruen’s ‘Wall Garden’

This well-known German green roof company have developed a living wall based on aluminium mesh modules (Optigruen calls these cassettes) filled with a crushed brick and organic matter substrate. This system promises to be well suited to a wide range of plants, including those native species that would naturally grow on walls and should be water efficient. http://www.optigreen.co.uk/T-img/PDF/6-Seiter_Fassade.pdf

BioTecture

This UK based company can boast an impressive portfolio of high profile projects in the UK and they are now active in the US, China and elsewhere.  http://www.biotecture.uk.com/portfolio.html Their system consists of hydroponic modules filled with horticultural mineral wool and planted with a distinctive palette of plants chosen primarily for their appearance.

CityRoofs

Another UK based company, CityRoofs use their Aquadyne porous plastic boards to support turf or sedum mats. They have experimented with direct seeding onto the boards however their walls now tend to be vegetated with pre-grown mats. http://www.cityroofs.co.uk/

Sempergreen Vertical Systems

Sempergreen is a Dutch company, well known for its sedum blankets. Its vertical system division has two products including the flexible modules on show at Radlett. These panels can be mounted on curved surfaces and the firm also emphasises the value of living walls as noise barriers and wildlife habitats. http://www.sempergreenvertical.com/eng/index_eng.html

TreeBox

TreeBox, based in the UK, have developed the robust Easiwall Green Wall http://www.treebox.co.uk/products.asp . This system is self supporting, avoiding the need for often expensive supporting structures and the planting pockets are large, allowing for substantial plants to be rooted into up 150mm of growing medium. This makes it easy to have an instant impact. This system would be ideal for growing vegetables.

Jakob

(Supplied by MMA Architectural Systems in the UK)
This is the ‘traditional’ stainless steel wire trellis manufactured in Switzerland, but there are other simple ways of supporting climbing plants. This method of greening a façade may not be as glamorous as some of the others now available, but it is relatively cheap and climbers require little maintenance and can thrive without irrigation. http://www.jakob.co.uk/

MiniGarden

This is one a family of products from Portugal. http://www.mini-garden.com/lojas.asp. Consisting of robust plastic stackable units with clever internal drainage and a hidden irrigation system. Large volumes of various types of growing medium can be held in these relatively large units, which could also be used to grow vegetables at home.

Bin Fen

Bin Fen is a manufacturer based in Tai Chung, Taiwan where green walls have really caught on. It is estimated that there are more green walls in Tai Chung than the whole of Europe. http://www.binfen.com.tw/ The system is distributed by Chris Herniman in Europe. http://www.binfengreenwallsystem.com/system.html There are two Bin Feng systems. The first ‘modular system’ consists of units of 5 square angled 550cc plastic pots that snap into a plastic frame. Ball and socket joints make it possible to build up large green walls if these are supported on battens. The Ben Fen ‘bespoke system’ uses similar pots to the modular system, but these are hooked onto a weldmesh frame. This makes it easy to create curved walls. Each pot drains into the pot below. These systems are easy to maintain and pots can be easily replaced, although part of the supporting structure and fittings is usually visible.

A Note of Caution

Living walls are now a feature of many of our towns and cities, but it is important that planting is matched to region, microclimate and aspect and that planting is designed with purpose in mind. Is your wall to provide cooling, boost biodiversity, for growing food or just for the look? What about water? Like any living landscape, living walls work best when they are designed and managed by suitably qualified and experienced people. Procuring an outdoor living wall is not quite as simple as buying a building product and be wary of any salesman that claims that it is.  GRC can provide advice on the planning, design, installation and maintenance of living walls.

Green roof designed for biodiversity in the Victoria BID area

The award was for our design of the 55 Broadway Green Roof above St. Jame’s Tube Station in central London. We entered with the University of East London, who are involved in monitoring the roof as part of a Buglife – the Invertebrate Charity project funded by Sita Nature Enhanced. The project was also substantially funded by TFL.

It was a great pleasure and an honour for Dusty Gedge to receive the award from Mike Wells of Biodiversity by Design, who sponsored the award. Unfortunately Dr. G. Kadas, one of the world’s leading biodiversity and green roof researchers was unable to be there on the day.

The design of the roof is based on over 6 years of study by Dr. Kadas on green roofs and rare invertebrates and green roofs. The design incorporate a number of features and is an important extension on the idea of brown roofs for biodiversity. The original idea formulated back in 1997 by members of GRC was for local recycled aggregates were to be used and allowed to colonise naturally. However the research showed that this siuch an approach though, in principle of ecological merit, delayed colonisation by invertebrates and could lead to ‘eco-dumping’ by contractors.

This new design uses a variety of commercial green roof substrate blends and native wildflowers plugs and seeds as well as native sedum seeds. The roof will be monitored by UEL for another two years. This will add an even greater understanding on how green roofs are used by invertebrates.

Vegetated infiltration trench storing and cleaning street runoff

In most regions of the world there are floodplain forests, some which are frequently inundated, sometimes called swamp forests or wet woodlands. Most of these areas, especially in developed countries, but nearly everywhere in the world, have been cleared for agriculture. Many cities sit in floodplains that were covered with swamp forests. Fragments of floodplain forests survive and some of their characteristic trees still fringe rivers.  These trees tolerate flooding, can grow in waterlogged soils and in many cases can also survive drought.

An example of such a tree includes the Chinese swamp cypress Glyptostrobus pensilis, which is sometimes planted alongside irrigation ditches in China but is extinct in the wild in all but a few places in Vietnam. This tree would be suitable for widespread use in urban parks and rain gardens in southern China, where it could be planted in hollows designed to receive surface water from streets, thereby reducing flooding and soaking up pollution but also providing valuable summer shade and evaporative cooling – like natural air conditioners. Such trees, which can grow up to 6 storeys in height, would provide refuge for birds, bringing more bird song into the town.  Similar species grow elsewhere – there is always a locally appropriate equivalent for your home town swamp forest.

Chinese swamp cypress in floodplain forest

Tree planting is good, rain gardens are good – why not combine the two using swamp forest species ?

The first was the winner in the strategic landscape planning category. The project was the Greater Ashford Landscape Strategy, which was undertaken by Studio Engleback, one of the country’s cutting edge landscape practices. See the Greater Ashford plans

The Westfield living wall, which Gary worked on when he was at AECOM, was highly commended in the Under 1ha Design Category.

For more information on the living wall see Gary’s blog at livingroofs.org