Well, green walls and roofs are much the norm now and each of us will soon be relying on them for our supply of urban O. If you haven’t yet figured out how you’re going to green your roof, you can take a cue from these fantastically innovative ways of doing it using steel. These two green roofs, one in Sydney and another in London, are far removed from standard practices but make a great deal of sense in terms of approach and practicality.

Sometimes, architecture captivates attention simply by being radically different from the norm. Not different in the ‘weird’ sort of way, just so rightly, beautifully, simply stunning. That is what the Waterloo Youth Centre building in Sydney, Australia does in terms of visual impact. The building, in fact, almost diminishes into the ground it stands on under the visual weight of the enormous netted crown on it that spreads its greened spikes far and wide till they merge with the verdant mounds surrounding them. It makes for an enthralling backdrop for the skateboarding and other activities of energetic youth that transpire in its foreground.

Looks apart, this architecture creates far greater impact beginning with the purpose it fulfils up to the approach it adopts in doing so. Architects Collins and Turner were commissioned to revitalise an existing youth welfare centre building to accommodate various sporting and hobby activities as well as counselling services for the youth of Waterloo by the Sydney city administration. The designers have approached the revitalising challenge by virtually breathing new life into the building by submerging it in a veil of greenery.

Retaining parts of the original structure and adding new entry/ exit foyers has resulted in an open-to-sky courtyard in the centre, which is surrounded by various activity and administrative zones laid out in a primarily open plan. The greening of the roof has been engineered using a geometrically framed meshing that is pinned to the terrace around the courtyard. Its origami pin-wheel shaped plan fans out around the structure to canopy the entrances in various directions. In the side-views, this canopy’s ‘wings’ seem to take off skywards lifting the structure in an envelope of lightness, and simultaneously burying it in a shroud of green. 

Designed to support a vast local variety of flowering and fruit plants and trees, the netted canopy takes inspiration from old ivy clad forts and castles as well as aviary structures, aiming to merge with the surrounding landscape as the greens grow and cover it fully

How would you fancy a veritable Machu Picchu atop your home? Yes, I am referring to stepped green terraces rising up to a peak. Well, that’s what a home in London has for a green roof – an accessible terraced garden where long rows of stepped levels are covered in pebbled beds of varieties of green plants which the home owners indulgently cultivate.

The home owners, a pair of well-established artist and designer, makers of garments for upmarket apparel brand, handed the job of adding space to their house in a conventional London neighbourhood to accommodate a work studio and some green to architects Hayhurst & Co. Their innovative solution was ‘Garden House’, as it has come to be called, where a ground floor living quarter and a first floor studio cum gallery is capped by a pyramidal garden. The inability to have large openings in the walls due to the close proximity of neighbouring buildings is compensated by the large skylights punctuating this green roof to let in ample light and ventilation. These openings also provide access to the garden atop so that the residents can actively engage in tending to the plants as they had desired.

Marine grade mirror polished stainless steel has been used to create V-section planter boxes that form the steps of the pyramid, suspended on to a GRP membrane. The slopes of different sides of the pitched roof vary between 30 and 45 degrees to create a best fit vis-à-vis the neighbouring property profiles and accommodation of a unique biodiversity of 800 varieties of sedums and heathers. Not only do the home owners have a tend-able garden, but the neighbours have been gifted an awesome view from their windows! No wonder, having created a new prototype for urban green infill, the ‘Garden House’ made it to the 2015 RIBA shortlist for ‘House of the Year’.

Well, it is evident that neither the density nor the age any form of urban development and consequent loss of green should necessarily induce panic and despair, for green can be squeezed in through fantastically creative initiatives. Both the innovative projects visited here clearly show that where there is a will, there’s a green roof!!