- Above: The roof garden of the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn, Germany. Photo: Deutche Telekom.
- Above: A green roof atop a building in Beijing. Source: Treehugger.
- Above: (two pics) School of Art and Design, Singapore. Photos: Sidonie Carpenter.
- Above: Getty Centre, LA. Photo: Sidonie Carpenter.
- Above: DPI Marine and Freshwater Resource Institute, Queenscliff, Victoria, designed by Lyons Architects.
- Above: Australia’s Parliament House, Canberra. Photo: Hillmanimages.com
- The California Academy of Sciences, as featured on thegrowspot.com
- Above: Solaire Building, New York. Photo: Earth Observatory.
- Above: Kingsway Condo, Vancouver, by ELT green roofs.
- Above: Garden shed roof, from North Carolina Green Technology Building Database.
- Above: Turf and sedum roofs from Safeguard Europe.
- Above: Roof Meadows by Roofscapes Inc Nth America
- Above: Patric Blanc green roof and living wall from ecotourismblog.
- Another vertical garden by Patrick Blanc in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Adaptiveruse.
- Above: Conservatorium of Music, Sydney (both pics) by Water Sensitive Urban Design, Sydney.
- Above: Wharf 11, Sydney: Water Sensitive Urban Design, Sydney.
- Above: Charles Sturt University, Albury, by Water Sensitive Urban Design, Sydney.
- Above: Embarkation Park, Sydney, by Water Sensitive Urban Design, Sydney.
- Above: Freshwater Place, Southbank, Melbourne, by Fytogreen Australia.
- Above: Vertical turf by Fytogreen Australia.
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- Above: Green roof from Wisconsin Energy Education Program.
- Above: Seattle City Hall. Photo: Design cost data.
- Above: Vancouver Public Library. Photos: School of Architecture University.
- Above: Westin Awaji Resort, Japan, photo courtesy of Graeme Hopkins and Churchill Memorial Fellowship.
- Above: Green roofs by The Garland Company, UK.
- Hunderwasser’s village model, on display at Kunsthaus in Vienna via ecogeek.
Domestic roof garden by Marigreen, UK & Czech
- Above: Denmark’s National Bank Building.
- Above: The Toyota Roof Garden. Photo: Business Week, Japan.
- Above: The Ford Assembly Plant in Michigan, US.
- Above: Building in Milano, from Sally in Italia website.
- Above: Liftech Consultants (structural engineering) green roof
- Above: Melbourne’s 6-star CH2 building, the ‘greenest building in Australia’. Rooftop garden by Fytogreen.
Church with turf roof, Saurbær, Iceland. Source: Boddie.
Above: Living wall and grass roof, Singapore. Source: Sidonie Carpenter.
Above: Millenium Park, Chigago, at more than 24 acres, one of the largest green roofs in the world. Source: greenroofs.com.
- Above: Earth homes by Swiss architect Peter Vetsch. Photos: Simonstocken.
- Below: the famous Chicago City Hall green roof. Photo: greenroofs.com
- Above two pics from ecogeek.
- Above: ACROS Fukuoka building, Japan, via Metaefficient website.
MORE PHOTOS OF GREEN ROOFS AROUND THE WORLD here.
- All care has been taken to correctly cite and reference sources, but if we have in error breached copyright by hosting any of these pictures, the copyright holder can comment below and we will remove it immediately.
Great!!!
what an inspiration!! love the swiss architect and the earth homes….would love to see the inside of some of them…..what does it take to start a green roof? obviously alot of special materials must go into that in order to keep the roof from caving in…any places like that in Pennsylvania? would love to visit…seems like everyone is getting green everywhere else but US
(sad to say)
Great gallery, but the reference to the Superdome is wrong.
The Superdome is in New Orleans, not New York.
The roof of the Superdome is not green/planted, it’s concrete – the photo is of the playing field INSIDE of the dome and the workers aren’t “revealing messages” – they are marking the lines and yard numbers on the playing field.
Lastly, it should be noted that the playing field is artificial turf since it is in an enclosed dome.
Impressive and comforting that there are intelligent and sensitive people in our world when we need them utmostly.
Fab….Just a little thing…Scandinavia started this trend over a 1000 years ago and we still have a lot of them, especially in Norway. I think Hundertwassers buildings ought also be included.
I think one of the reasons the U.S. is not as advanced as other countries is becasue its President is anti-environment.
I think it is also due in part to the fact that our education system doesn’t involve even the basics of gardening or farming. Kids know more brand names than they do insects, plants or trees. We are going to need 50 million farmers in the days to come, it needs to be in all education systems in the world.
How is Millenium Park a green roof? It is ground level and not on a structure. If underground parking is present, wouldn’t calling the park a “green roof” be a bit of a technicality?
Hello Nick. It is most certainly a green roof. It’s considered the world’s biggest green roof. One site with info on its construction is here:
http://www.greenroofs.org/washington/index.php?page=millenium
Thanks, Scott, for the Superdome correction.
nick, i live in chicago. it is a roof over an underground parking garage and a train yard which was extremely ugly and bordering the art institute of chicago.
These are truly beautiful and make you think what cities could look like- especially with green walls. But… I did read somewhere that green rooves weigh more due to soil etc, and that the extra material required to hold them up more than negates any environmental gain (eg: Co2 offset). Have there been any studies done on this. Obviously not applicable to the beautiful wooden shed?
These are truly beautiful and make you think what cities could look like- especially with green walls. But… I did read somewhere that green roofs weigh more due to soil etc, and that the extra material required to hold them up more than negates any environmental gain (eg: Co2 offset). Have there been any studies done on this. Obviously not applicable to the beautiful wooden shed?
Don’t forget to add that UCF received a grant from FDEP to install a green roof in Orlando, FL.
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2005/05/0505_01.htm
http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=002400411a428d50103c2675a02007d87
Response to Jo:
Yes the initial CO2 is increased. But the long term savings from less energy consumption, better control of stormwater runoff, plant absorbtion of CO2, etc. will catch up in the long run. There is also the added benefit that the roof will treat it’s own runoff not allowing it to transport the nutrients from the fertilized lawn into our waterways.
I, as an Engineer in Florida, personally strive to show the benefits to every developer that comes to the table with a design project (cistern, green roof, permeable pavement, grass not requiring fertilization, tie existing landscaping into the beauty of the overall design, etc.). Progress Energy and FPL (local to FL) offer percentage cost reductions in power bills if the building is constructed as “green.” The developer can also get grants to offset their initial capital from FDEP (see above example) and can have local impact fees reduced. The US may be REAL FAR BEHIND but there are programs in effect to get this ball rolling. We Americans just need to spread the word about their availability.
Here is a small residential demonstration project in Montréal (Québec) Canada:
http://www.ecosensuel.net/drm/portfolio/projetpilote1.html
I represent equus Industries in N.Z. we supply waterproofing membranes to the N.Z construction market. (I have given you our Australian website as we now also manufacture and supply from melbourne) I am writing to you as one of your correspondance mentioned Friedensrich Hundertwasser. He lived for many years in the North Island in a town of Kawakawa. whilst there he also contributed great piece of Architecture. One of his most famous landmarks in N.Z are the Toilet blocks which are not only very beautiful they also have a greenroof which has been there for many many years. if you wish I could email you a picture. or try http://www.kawakawa.co.nz to see the local council website
So beautiful! thanks for the inspiration. I’m trying really hard to get folks here in Brooklyn to try green roofs!
It´s a concept that needs to be spread out, all around the world.
I hope someday this environmental technology will be affordable for the middle and below middle class. It would also be great if the government will give tax and other incentives for us to restrcture our homes as such. It makes so much sense.
Some of these examples are stunning. The roof above Awei just took my breath away and I cried.
I want to make my own living wall outside my shop.
Do they need planning permision…anyone know?
Hundertwasser was into this bigtime in Vienna many years ago and the bureaucrats thought he was mad… and did everything they could to stop him.
luckily Bio-artists are hot now.
These are brilliant forms of architecture, far beyond some of the examples to be seen in the UK. Wonderfull inspiration!
i think it’s so nice to be all this greenroofs at australia but i asking my self too much why we do that becouse i think it’s be nice most if we do that in empty peace
Thank you for putting this great photo collection togethor!
Greetings, we are designing a condo tower in down town Denver, USA and hoping to have vertical ‘gaden’ climing up the walls of the building. Currently we are thinking of simle planters suspended off building exterior wall with small upright evergreen trees in them. Do you have any purtinent sites for us to see or photos of similar installation to look at? We greatly apprecaite the help. Client has hard time visualising it and we must convince them quickly to keep the ideat alive. Have a great day.
Cool! this is what I am looking for similar green roof proposal, you have a good gallery of thouse green roof samples… great job!
simply amazing nothing else to say about it
I love this gallery. The company I work for, Rana Creek, did the Academy of Sciences green roof, gap headquarters, and many others. If you’d like other photos, let me know.
Am busy with designs for an addition to our home in “The Cradle of Humankind” South Africa and this has made me rethink what we will do!
Hi,
I think this should catch on. I think to re-use wasted roof space is a natural thing to do. We have an appartment block and a flat roof – however the engineers we have spoken to say that to strengthen the roof would cost approx 1+K @ m² – as its a very large roof (Would calc to 100k +. As this is a new idea here in Australia – I think we need to speak to someone involved in the Greenroof project for some out of the box ideas. Are there specialist engineers in this area? Any Help Anyone?
Our company does green roofs and green walls but we’re located in the US. We have engineers on staff and are just now starting to work with large box stores and other existing large roof owners on retrofit installations. Happy to answer questions.
Hello,
I am a producer for a design and architecture magazine in Latino America, “Urbana”. We will like to make a article about your fantastic work, is it possible to get high quality images for our publication? obviously we will print all the required credits and information you need.
Please contact me, as we will like to have an interview too
thank you and congratulations
Gabriela
[...] • Green roofs are aesthetically pleasing. [...]
Fab site! easy to use, and aesthetic! would like to reference you and use images if possible. Found you through living wall system Au on google though was looking on US site http://www.greenroofs.com/ in directory for you, you are not listed there – you are a much better site.
loved it.
thank you! inspiring!
Inspiring. Especially the green roof in Raleigh, North Carolina. That’s just down the road from rural Washington, North Carolina with our Estuarium.
Thanks for your nice phtos of Green Roof.
We are speciallized in Waterproofing works in Vietnam. Wwould like to concentrate about new technology in greenroof, Could you please give us more morinformations, photos & typical specification of these jobs.
Thanks and best regard
Hugo Benz
Quite Informative pictures of Australia’s Green Houses
Quite Informative pictures of Australia’s Green Roof Tops
[...] just love this website: http://greenroofs.wordpress.com/contact-us Check out the incredible pictures! But even better is the working idea of a green roof. Want [...]
Dear Dawn,
Your ignorant to suggest any person is anti-environment. Regardless of political affiliation, I challenge you to find one person who seriously wants to ruin the environment. Try to have a clue before you speak. By the way G. Bush owns a ranch in Texas that is kept far “greener” and closer to it’s natural state than any of your communist/socialist leaders properties. Go catch a bullet.
Thank you for a hope-generating collection.
It is important that people in Chicago see all these efforts, many so sculptural and imaginative, so that we do not get complacent, but continue to press in this direction.
[...] and throughout Japan, but people are starting to install green roofs in suburban areas as well. Truly green. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Green roofs can take root on almost any [...]
[...] out this gallery of ‘green’ roofs from around the [...]
I would love to do a green wall. Is there a place with directions or ideas on how to do this?
Great stuff. I’m glad to see Sydney is working hard to implement this into more of their urban design. Ecoroofs and bioswales have a place in all sustainable architecture.
Amazing! We are submitting some grant proposals to put in green walls at Portland State University. We have one green roof, but we really want to use these methods to beautify our campus. Thanks!
In Response to Tony, It’s great that bush can afford to be “green” on his own property meanwhile waging war on OUR environment through his fascist, neocon arrogance. HE IS THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY DESTRUCTIVE
[...] Here is a link to some photos of the more recent, trendy green roofs. [...]
What about Monaco? I was there in June and from the view from outside the Royal Palace, there’s hardly a free roof anywhere. Almost every condo and roof has some form of green roof– which looks amazing.
Yes this is a great and inspiring collection. Glad to see people stressing the beauty. Green roofs have to be seen, no good on top of a tall building where it would be invisible. Stormwater retention/treatment in an urban area can be a big benefit, but the insulating properties that are claimed can be much more cheaply achieved by other means. And those living walls – amazing, wonder if they are hard to install and maintain. Singapore should be a good location – no winter!
millenium park is definately not a green roof.
Actually, it is. I understand it’s atop a car-park and railway, among other things. Its construction and planning were featured at the first Green Roofs conference in Brisbane. Its designers and engineers boast it to be the world’s largest green roof.
[...] A green roof atop a building in Beijing [...]
i wish the vertical landscape could be applied into all scales of our cities!
Hi I have a friend that put up a tree house. This is the coolest I’ve ever seen. How would I go about sharing this photo.
Thanks,
Pam
Dear sir / Mam
Hello…………
I am delighted to learn more about your company and your activities.
It would be highly appreciated ; if you would me your printed catalog or magazine.
I am really indebted for your help.
Your sincerely
adress:
Dr . shahram Jamshidi
tenth boostan alley
dastgheyb street
PC: 65516-14979 kaboudrahang city
hamedan – iran
Hi
I am feeling so good to see such a beautiful architecture. its amazing i love to see this with my own eyes. i wish to go there. Insha Allah
Saba Jadoon
Pakistan
Thanks for you efforts!. Great work done… Amazing..
Dawn (14:34:49) :
I think one of the reasons the U.S. is not as advanced as other countries is becasue its President is anti-environment.?????
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/is_george_bush.php
Only your dispassionate Canadian correspondent could write this without colour or favour, but is it possible that George Bush is a secret Green? Evidently his Crawford Winter White House has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling. “By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small,” says David Heymann, the architect of the 4,000-square-foot home. “Clients of similar ilk are building 16-to-20,000-square-foot houses.” Furthermore for thermal mass the walls are clad in “discards of a local stone called Leuders limestone, which is quarried in the area. The 12-to-18-inch-thick stone has a mix of colors on the top and bottom, with a cream- colored center that most people want. “They cut the top and bottom of it off because nobody really wants it,” Heymann says. “So we bought all this throwaway stone. It’s fabulous. It’s got great color and it is relatively inexpensive.”
beauty…………….
So here is the proof: These images are so helpful in assisting the understanding of successful ideas – to the non-believers. Anything is possible, and these images are an inspiration for me. What a discovery. Thank you.
I am very enjoy your blog, your blog is very true of the stick, you would like to see more blog content! I wish you a happy day!
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
i love green roofs when i get big and famus everyone will get one
salam kenal. berkunjung nih di blognya, informasi yang bagus mudah-mudahan dapat dicontoh untuk bangunan di Indonesia. makasih ya. dan jangan lupa kunjungi juga blog saya.
Jenny, what have the engineers said about an extensive green roof – a sedum mat with a waterproof membrane underneath. It usually doesnt need extra support and is cheaper and easier to install and maintain than an intensive green roof. It doesnt look as amazing but it does the job environmentally and with the amount of sedum available some great designs can be attained. I think the more green rooves we can get throughout our cities in the next few years the better and all governments, from local to federal should be encouraging and participating. I am on a mission to get my workplace to put a green roof on all our freestanding buildings.
Greenbau, I agree we should be stressing the beauty of a green roof but I disagree that they are no good on top of a high rise where they would be invisable. The environmental benefit of reducing the urban heat island effect is also incredibly important in the fight against global warming and slowing the effects of our cities on the planet.
Nice shots, love those pictures
I felt the green roof looked very ugly and lack of design. let me thinking of a guy without shaving decade. But, I like ch2 ideas a bit walkway + green + furniture = useful for people…… rather than a massive Green kinda out of control…
my name is tyrone and i was wondering how much a green roof would cost for a one achor roof
Hi Tyrone,
Its difficult to provide a simple answer to your question because there are lots of factors that affect how much it costs to design and construct a green roof. These factors include the size of the area to be greened, the ease of access to the site, the types and availability of materials used in construction of the green roof, the potential requirement for town planning permission and building certification and the fees charged by the various people who would need to be involved in the process.
As a rule of thumb, the more developed a green roof industry becomes in a particular city, the more likely it is for costs to come down due to economy of scale and competition in the market place. At the moment, depending on the factors mentioned above, you may find a green roof fully installed could cost anywhere between $200 to $2,000 per m2 or more. Of course, the more time and experimentation you are willing to spend yourself, the less you will have to spend on others doing it for you.
All the best,
Ben Nicholson
[...] For more pictures of amazing green roofs, check out Green Roofs Australia. [...]
I beleive more can be done. I remembered my mother told me about thier green roof garden 60yrs ago they had in China when they were growing up, they always played up on their roof gardens at night time especially. The had a fruit and vegetable garden up there.
Love the : Earth homes by Swiss architect Peter Vetsch
[...] Roof top gardening is already very advanced in America http://www.skyvegetables.com/and Australia http://greenroofs.wordpress.com/contact-us but London has yet to take up the idea in a big way – until now that [...]
GREEN IS LIFE
[...] pictured above, makes it a little easier to take in the benefits and beauty of rooftop greenery. Here is an entire photo gallery devoted to eco roofs of the world, and here is a Flickr pool. Image [...]
[...] pictured above, makes it a little easier to take in the benefits and beauty of rooftop greenery. Here is an entire photo gallery devoted to eco roofs of the world, and here is a Flickr pool. Image [...]
[...] pictured above, makes it a little easier to take in the benefits and beauty of rooftop greenery. Here is an entire photo gallery devoted to eco roofs of the world, and here is a Flickr pool. Image [...]
[...] pictured above, makes it a little easier to take in the benefits and beauty of rooftop greenery. Here is an entire photo gallery devoted to eco roofs of the world, and here is a Flickr pool. Image [...]