Creating Living Roofs (by Shaun Lyons)

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to attend a Seminar on the Creation of living roofs and walls presented by Trudy Begent of City Roofs. I went with an open mind in the hope of learning some of the cutting edge technologies and techniques in Green roof creation.

There are several obvious benefits to integrating living roofs into new developments as well as retrofitting them on existing buildings. A properly installed living roof will significantly increase the life of the roof membrane acting as a brilliant protection against the elements. On the continent there are examples of green roofs which are over half a century old and are still very much intact. Another advantage is the temperature regulation qualities that living roofs and façades bring to buildings. The vegetation provides fantastic insulation in winter and in summer, evapotranspiration has a cooling effect. This can drastically reduce the cost of heating and air conditioning especially in large buildings. A third benefit is the aesthetic value which a living roof can provide. Whether providing open space as an accessible roof garden or simply viewed from other buildings, installing a green roof can increase the value of property and provide a pleasant place to live and work.

As well as the financial benefits a Living roofs have important environmental advantages and can provide significant green space in dense urban surroundings. Green roofs have a large storm water attenuation capacity and can hold between 70% and 90% of rain water which falls upon them. This can have an important impact in reducing the prospect of urban flooding. As well as this living roofs serve to reduce the urban heat island effect and improve air quality. Living roofs also significantly enrich biodiversity by providing habitat for a plethora of birds and insects.

The creation of green roofs involves laying a waterproof membrane on top of the roof felt. This is then topped with a drainage board. City Roofs have developed a product called Aquadyne , made from 100% recycled plastic, this material can hold up to 22.5l/m² of water. The capillary action technology which uses a series of micro and macro pores allows water to be collected during rain and drawn upon in dry periods. A substrate, usually a gravelly soil, covers this drainage board and then vegetation covers that. The vegetation can be laid in a matt, sewn as a seed mix or planted as plugs depending on the desired effect and time scale.

Aquadyne is also used in the creation of living façades and a series of tests by City Roofs have allowed them to be able to grow plants straight out of the product without a substrate at 90°. Using a Halfen Steel frame, blocks of the Aquadyne, which can support species such as coriander as well as grasses and sedums, are organised to give the desired effect. An irrigation system which also provides nutrients can then be controlled digitally.

To find out more try…

www.cityroofs.com/home.html

static.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/docs/living-roofs.pdf

http://www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk/

Coastal landscape and plants

A couple of weeks ago the Autumn storms arrived early,  the wind howled around our loft studio and the radio brought news of Manx Shearwaters blown onto the beach at Newgale, Pembrokeshire.  Hundreds of birds were rescued and later released back into the wild. 

An incredible event, unseasonal but reminding me of the power and unpredictability of the weather at our coasts, how winds create waves that lash the shore and blow salt spray far inland.  How the wind can prune trees and shrubs, creating stunted, gnarled specimens with branches fleeing the storm.

This year, we’ve been to many parts of our coast, including Lyme Regis, South Hams, Pembrokeshire, Weston-super-Mare and the far North-West of Scotland.  The landscapes and plant communities vary so much from location to location.  Coastal cliffs at Lyme are a mix of clays and shale, with some tops of Greensand.  The field, hedge and woodlands of rural Dorset topple into the sea, with no space for dunes or shingle banks. 

At Gara, the fields end near the cliff edge, the rock is of harder Schizt, more durable, which has allowed distinct plant communities to develop on acid soils.  Heather, foxglove, blackthorn and bracken prevail with fines grass where livestock graze.  Pembrokeshire shares similar plant communities and also similar landforms such as ria or flooded valleys.  

The beach at Weston-super-Mare has been tamed, for the most part, and is a happy destination for many holiday makers.  The main beach is cultivated to remove rubbish in the summer months and you can park on the sand reasonably safely.  If you walk south from the town beach, there are dunes rather than concrete and esplanade, to the back of the beach.  Sea buckthorn and blackthorn cover the dunes along with marram grass. Perennial plants such as evening primrose and thistles grow in the sheltered spots.  It is a much more natural landscape. Behind the dunes lies a golf course, which I have not yet explored.  As the tide goes out, a rocky causeway is exposed, seemingly connected to Brean Down – don’t be tempted to cross unless you want a trip in a helicopter.  The far side of the causeway ends in mud.  If you drive round, Brean Down is well worth a visit, especially on a winter’s evening, with the sun setting over the sea.

The coast of Wester Ross and Sutherland is incredibly remote and varied.  There are white sand beaches with clear water shimmering with lance and sandeels.  There are shallow estuaries stained brown by peaty water.  Dramatic fjords twist the few roads from any chance of a direct route. Sea stacks, caves.  Flotsam thrown up fifty or more metres bear testament to the power of the ocean.  More incredible are boulders thrown similar distances. 

Seminar on the Localism Bill and NPPF

I attended an interesting seminar on Wednesday 21 September 2011,  on the new Localism Bill and National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), at the County Ground in Bristol, presented by Rob Duff of Pegasus Planning Group .  I have in the past read numerous Planning Policy Guidelines (PPG’s), but claim no expertise in the area.  Now we will all have to get to grips with a New Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), albeit in a new condensed format and with fewer prescriptions.  It appears that there are both threats and opportunities to our landscape. 

In brief, Rob’s excellent talk started off with a description of the Bill and new NPPF and what it will do.  It is a wide ranging reform of local government and quite radical, with changes to finance that re-introduce the link between local government finance and housing.   Funding will be become a material consideration in planning applications.

I am not going to repeat Rob’s talk and slide show – you’ll have to contact him for that, but a couple of fellow attendees and I discussed the Bill after the talk and as I understand it, (and I may be wrong – I have more reading to do) the threats to our landscape may be considered the presumption in favour of development with the aim of increasing housing provision and growth (there is a massive waiting list for council housing).  With less prescription and detailed guidance in the framework, it will be up to local government and communities to interpret the Framework.  It seems that so long as the local community are with you, one might be able to promote the development of one’s own assets.   Local communities may be swayed to permit development on greenbelt or agricultural land, leading to expansion and perhaps abandonment of urban centres.

Opportunities exist for local communities and councils to promote development and benefit from community infrastructure levy and new homes bonus – money that could be invested in local parks and infra-structure.  The Bill will also allow give local communities the right to buy local assets such as a pub or swimming pool.   The framework also gives top priority to promote sustainable economic growth, jobs and sustainable development (local plan led).   There is continued protection of AONB, National Parks, wildlife, heritage and biodiversity (in line with European legislation). 

I shall be following the debate in the papers and trade journals, to get a balanced view. In the meantime, I am now off to the Communities and Local Government web address below for the online documents: http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningsystem/planningpolicy/planningpolicyframework/.

Website Updates

Check out our recently updated website for news about current projects and recent awards.  You can now also download our regular postcards, showcasing AFLA projects. 

Knowle Park Primary School project

The foundation stage playground has been completed during the summer holidays and the children are now able to enjoy this magical new space.  For further information about this project, and many more, please visit our website http://www.afla.co.uk/ and check out our Education projects.  If you would like to receive the new postcard which is shortly being sent out, please email kim@afla.co.uk so that you can be added to the mailing list.  Enjoy!

AFLA staff

We are very pleased to announce that Shaun Lyons has joined AFLA as a year-out student.  He started with us on Monday 5 September as a Graduate Landscape Architect.  He has recently graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Landscape Architecture with Ecology and will be returning to Sheffield University in September 2012 to complete his Masters in Landscape Architecture.