Accepted Manuscript

Title: Green roof evolution through exemplars: Germinal

prototypes to modern variants

Author: C.Y. Jim

PII: S2210-6707(17)30612-1
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.scs.2017.08.001
Reference: SCS 720

To appear in:

Received date: 2-6-2017

Revised date: 26-7-2017
Accepted date: 1-8-2017

Please cite this article as: & Jim, C.Y., Green roof evolution through
exemplars: Germinal prototypes to modern variants.Sustainable Cities and Society
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.08.001

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Green roof evolution through exemplars: Germinal prototypes to modern variants

C.Y. Jim *

Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

* Corresponding author. Tel. +852 3917 7020; fax: +852 2559 8994
E-mail address: hragjcy@hku.hk (C.Y. Jim)

Highlights

 Origin and historical development of green roofs is the basis for modern application
 43 cases from different parts of the world and different periods provide prototypes
 Sod roof was invented in antiquity catering to harsh climate and resource deficiency
 New materials and technology in the 1960s revamped greenroof design and efficiency
 Selected exemplars in recent times germinate continual innovation to promote adoption

ABSTRACT
This paper evaluated a knowledge gap regarding the origin and historical development of
green roofs as an evolving human invention. Forty-three cases from different parts of the
world, marked by innovative and unique features, were chosen as pioneering exemplars.
They were organized into five time periods, namely Antiquity, Medieval, Early Modern, Late
Modern, and Recent. The lineage in antiquity was initially expressed through monumental
aristocratic and religious structures. Vernacular sod roofs were developed serendipitously in
response to harsh environments and lack of durable building materials. Their utilitarian trait
allowed continual use in modern times. Medieval Europe witnessed refined Renaissance
landscape design with some established as terrace gardens. Modern reinforced concrete
generated many buildings with flat roofs amenable to greening. A revised roofing technology
in Germany permitted flourishing of spontaneous vegetation, inspiring conscious installation
of modernized green roofs. Technological revamping of materials and skills since the 1960s
has primed and popularized green roof applications. Despite the new advances, the core
principles and practice of ancient green roofs have remained. Continual innovations in

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landscape and engineering designs have enhanced the diversity, quality and scope of recent
green roofs.

Keywords: Green roof origin; Green roof history; Green roof design; Green roof exemplar;
Sky woodland; Urban green infrastructure

1. Introduction
Human attempts to escape from the bondage of nature’s extreme weather conditions
have activated the survival instinct to invent shelters since primitive times (Fitch and Branch
1960; Anderson 1962). Human ingenuity has permitted continual improvements in the quality
of dwellings to afford protection from the vagaries of the elements (Rotne and Albjerg 2010).
The initial simple tent-like make-up evolved in time to the wall-cum-roof house structure.
The increasingly sophisticated lodgings presented new challenges, which were met with
continual innovations. Solutions to similar environmental problems and resource constraints
tended to converge despite cultural diversities (Rapoport 1969). Inventions and novelties
would be disseminated in a spatial diffusion process to bring wider adoption and shared
commonality.
Besides shielding people and their belongings from environmental harshness, the
envelope of dwellings has progressively adopted new roles. Curtailing the penetration of rain,
wind and running water would lead to escalating expectations of keeping out heat and
coldness from the sequestered indoor space (Aronin 1953). As far as possible, the warm air
generated by the fire place would be kept within the enclosure. The desire for coziness would
stimulate advancements in wall and roof technology to compress the diurnal indoor
temperature range within the human-comfort zone. Construction materials and methods
would be tried and honed to enhance the utilitarian functions. The exceptionally unforgiving
climate of the Arctic lands and shortage of suitable building materials would push people to
use nature’s soil and sod to build houses (Urbańczyk 1999; Buckland 2000). Thus the ancient
prototypes of green roofs would have arisen under such natural and serendipitous
circumstances (Morrison and Germain 1995; van Hoof and van Dijken 2008; Bathurst et al.
2010).
In modern times, buildings would be designed to fulfil more human desires. Urban
life would have severed people from nature to nurture the hope to re-establish some
semblance of nature in homes. With improvements in building and horticultural technologies,
the garden ambience could extend from the ground to the elevated level of terraces and roof
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tops. The practicalities of waterproofing the roof and providing sufficient support of the
added load of soil, water and vegetation would be resolved to lay the foundation for roof-
greening on flat surfaces. The hedonic pursuit would drive the urge to create private sky
gardens. Recent environmental awareness would trigger innovations to reduce the massive
and aggravating environmental impacts of buildings (Castleton et al. 2010; Svendsen et al.
2012). Amongst the different initiatives, green roofs have been advocated to offer a nature-
based solution (European Commission 2015) especially to challenges imposed by climate
change and the urban heat island effect (EPA 2009; Jim 2015a). Assiduous attempts have
been made to improve the thermal and energy performance of green roofs (Köhler et al. 2002;
Yang et al., 2015). Knowledge on the choice of plant species and irrigation regime has been
progressively enhanced through research and practice (VanMechelen et al., 2015; Dvorak &
Volder 2010). The stormwater remediation benefits have been studied to supplement the
sustainable-city quest (Carter & Rasmussen 2006; Volder and Dvorak 2014).
Green-roof studies have been beset by a knowledge gap regarding the past evolution
in material, technology and design, and their connection with modern development. The term
green roof as used in the paper refers to the product of conscious establishment by human
efforts on the roof of a house or a comparable artefact, involving erecting a structural
framework with adequate mechanical strength to support the added load, furnishing substrate
to supply nutrients and water and to allow root growth and anchorage, inserting a drainage
layer to shed surplus water, and in general offering suitable conditions to sustain plant growth.
This paper attempted to trace the historical development of the green-roof innovations by
different people, in different lands, and in different times. Information on the pioneering and
notable cases was acquired from widely scattered sources, supplemented by field studies for
some modern existing establishments. Interpretations of the cases in pre-modern periods are
based on historical records, and where they are not reliable or where critical information is
missing, the cases would not be adopted.
The 43 exemplars were chosen for their role-model and pace-setting importance with
reference to historical landmarks and influence on current green-roof design. They have been
demarcated into five time periods, namely Antiquity, Medieval, Early Modern, Late Modern,
and Recent, largely based on commonly accepted human history periods. They were
presented in chronological sequence with information on their location, time of establishment
or record, green-roof type, area and exemplary features (Table 1). The potential implications
and inspirations on continual green-roof development were discussed. Some cases are
illustrated by photographs (Fig. 1 to 5). The major contributions of the paper are gleaning
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knowledge and information from widely scattered sources, organizing them in a systematic
timeframe and attribute structure, interpreting them to enhance understanding of the
progressive improvements and elaborations in time, and offering exemplars and inspirations
to influence future designs.

2. Ancient origin to modern revitalization

2.1. Prominent legacies in antiquity
The origin of green roofs is rooted in antiquity, as old as civilization. Archaeological remains
or other physical evidence are scant due to material perishability or degradability. The oldest
green roofs could be traced to massive ancient religious structures called ziggurats built in
Mesopotamia from circa 4000 to 600 BC (Osmundson 1999) (Table 1: Case 1). Using stones,
bricks and earth, they were constructed as stepped pyramids with terraces at different levels
culminating in a flat top. The platforms were accessed by ramps or stairways. Trees and
shrubs were planted on the terraces for shading and ornamental purposes, so that the sizeable
structure would resemble a green mound when viewed from a distance (Guisepi 2004). The
elevated greening denoted an early attempt to install plants on artificial edifices. As the core
of the ziggurats was usually composed of solid materials and occasionally contains
subsurface chambers (Leick 2002), most trees strictly speaking were not supported by a roof
with usable indoor space lying underneath.
The Hanging Garden of Babylon constructed around 500 BC, one of the ancient seven
wonders of the world, was often mooted as the preeminent green-roof exemplar in olden
times (Table 1: Case 2). It was installed on the roof of a sturdy building supported by
masonry columns and arched beams. The roof slab was waterproofed by layers of reed in
combination with tar. As recorded in history, the luxuriant vegetation included trees to
console the homesick concubine Amytis of King Nebuchadrezzar II (630–561 BC). The
vegetation emulated the lush forested mountain landscape of her native home in Media
(Saggs 2016). The elevated garden with a deep soil layer to allow tree growth was irrigated
by a system of pumps and pipes taking water from the nearby River Euphrates (Dalley 2013).
As a landscaping pioneer and an engineering wonder, the sylvan structure would have stood
prominently in contrast to the surrounding desert-like landscape. The lost heritage signifies
the ancient origin of the roof-greening idea for hedonic purpose, and of the technology to
install an elaborate garden on a substantial building designed and reinforced to support the
elevated greenery.

4
 The house design and living style in Roman times are denoted by well-preserved
archaeological remains of Pompeii, which was swiftly buried by hot volcanic ashes from the
sudden eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The wealthy citizens installed green roofs on
the flat terraces of their sumptuous villas (Shimmin 2012; Condello 2014). The open-air and
vegetated spaces provided natural extensions of living quarters. The fine terrace garden found
in the excavated Villa of Mysteries has been partly re-constructed (Table 1: Case 3). A roof
garden was also discovered around an audience hall in Roman-Byzantine Caesarea (a Roman
colony near the present Haifa city in Israel) (Littlewood et al. 2002) (Table 1: Case 4). These
cases represent the earliest record of roof greening on domestic structures in cities. The
Roman roof garden tradition could have been kept from the first to the fifteenth century AD
when the Eastern Roman Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks.

2.2. Inspiring medieval paragons

In the old Egyptian city of al-Fustāt (now part of Cairo) founded in AD 641, a Persian visitor
in the early eleventh century witnessed a 14-story building equipped with a roof garden
irrigated by ox-drawn water wheels (Behrens-Abouseif 1989: 6) (Table 1: Case 5). This is a
rare written record of green roofs outside Europe and North America. Vikings in the Nordic
lands extensively built some old sod roofs since the eleventh century AD. They denoted an
expression of environmental determinism by humans dwelling in the harsh Arctic areas with
unforgiving weather, and paucity of natural resources especially shortage of wood (Arge
2000). Lying beyond the timber line, forests were absent, drift woods were rare, and for
common folks trading over the rough seas was limited by the lack of resources and difficult if
not perilous navigation. To survive, sod houses with walls and roofs composed of sod or
earth pieces were built with materials harvested from local meadows (Gottmann 1957;
Sigurðardóttir 2008; Jim 2017). In Glaumbaer Skagafjördur in northern Iceland, the
archaeological remains of a traditional Viking longhouse believed to have a sod roof were
dated to circa 1050 (Steinberg 2003) (Table 1: Case 6). Such relatively substantial timber
structures, usually public buildings, would be constructed with timber from the small amount
of pre-settlement woody vegetation (Hermanns-Audardóttir 1991) supplemented by drift
wood, or imported from the land to the south (Malmros 1994; Kristjansdottir et al. 2001).
Some thirteenth century vernacular log houses with green roofs are still standing in Norway,
such as the Rauland dwelling house in Opdal, Numedal (Alnaes et al. 1950: 52) (Table 1:
Case 7).

5
 Occasionally, green roofs were installed on buildings in other parts of medieval
Europe. They echo human efforts to install surrogates of nature on artificial structures. The
following surviving classical examples are presented in chronological order. A prominent
historical heritage, the Benedictine Abbey in Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France, is
equipped with an old roof garden (Table 1: Case 8; Fig. 1a). Beginning as a small church in
AD 709, the site was later settled by Benedictines. In the eleventh century, a Romanesque
abbey church monastery building was added. The roof garden was laid on the top of a
building constructed in the thirteenth century (Tourism Office 2016). It is enclosed in a
cloister courtyard setting, with a lawn accompanied by clipped and free-growing shrubs.
Persisting for over eight centuries, it denotes one of the oldest extant green roofs in a non-
rural setting. The medieval cultural treasure has been designated a World Heritage in 1979
(UNESCO 2016a).
The Torre Guinigi (Italian for Guinigi Tower) in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, presents
another medieval green roof, one of the oldest remaining example in an urban setting
(Elborombaly and Molina-Prieto 2014) (Table 1: Case 9; Fig. 1b). In circa 1384, the
influential Guinigi merchant family built the imposing 40-m tall red-brick tower standing
prominently above the town’s low-rise houses. It was constructed for defense purpose, and as
an ostentatious symbol of wealth and power. The character of the tower is defined by seven
Holm Oak trees (Quercus ilex) planted in narrow planters on its small rooftop. The trees
soften the harsh geometry of the artificial structure and bestow a unique landscape feature to
the town. It is rare to have plants reared on an old tower top, and even more so to have trees.
This is probably the first case of trees planted on a tower. Native to the Mediterranean region,
Holm Oak is widely cultivated for adaptability to different habitat conditions and long life
span. In traditional belief, the vigorous and robust evergreen species connotes renewal and
rebirth (Cumo et al. 2012). With biological potential to reach 12–20 m tall and 15–18 m
crown diameter, the old trees on the tower have been stifled by confined soil volume. The
historical core of the town including the Guinigi villa and tower has been included in 2006 in
a tentative list of World Heritage (UNESCO 2016b).
Another cultural gem of Tuscany is the roof garden in Villa Medici at Careggi
(Gascoyne 1919) (Table 1: Case 10), which was then an important regional cultural center.
Built in the fifteenth century, it had a well-designed terrace garden with a typical trapezoid
court and loggia. Its regimented half was filled with flowers and fruit trees, and the other half
devoted to wild landscape. Reflecting the Renaissance spirit, the garden design integrated
with the architecture, the surrounding rural milieu and natural environment. It echoes vividly
6
the typical princely aristocratic rural residence in the period. Unfortunately, the garden later
fell into disrepair. The villa was then purchased by another family, who sold it to the
Englishman Francis Sloane in 1848. The new owner added different exotic trees to the
garden, transforming it to an arboretum. At present, the property is the office of a hospital.
The group of Medici villas and their gardens in Tuscany, Italy, has been designated as World
Heritage (UNESCO 2016c).
The Palazzo Piccolomini in Pienza, also in Tuscany, was the private summer
residence of Pope Pius II in his home town. Built in 1463, it was one of the projects to
transform the medieval township with an organic town plan to a well-organized ideal and
humanistic Renaissance city. The Pope commissioned the impressive Palazzo, which
included a roof garden with neat geometric layout and meticulously manicured trees and
shrubs expressing par excellence the topiary art form (Shepherd and Jellicoe 1925) (Table 1:
Case 11). It employed landscape design to link architecture with nature. The garden denoted
an early example of formal landscape design with regimented and symmetrical forms in
flower beds, box hedges, tree and shrub planting patterns and footpaths. A specially designed
drainage system prevented water leaking into the underlying stables. It remains one of the
finest examples of Italian Renaissance roof garden.

2.3. Persistence and technological revamp in modern times

Different people living in various continents in the early modern times kept the sod-
roof tradition alive (Table 1; Fig. 2a and 2b). For instance, some rural timber structures with
sod roofs built in the eighteenth century have persisted in different parts of Norway. A
notable example is the guest house and store house in Flaaten, Vinje in Telemark built in
circa 1700 (Alnaes et al. 1950: 126) (Table 1: Case 12). Similar sod houses built by
indigenous Inuit in Arctic North America were recorded in 1778 (Morrison and Germain
1995; McCartney and Veltre 1999) (Table 1: Case 13). An expedition in Abyssinia (now
Ethiopia) in 1806 found sod roofs in a village, which was a rare early record in Africa
(George 1809) (Table 1: Case 14). A journey through Turkistan (Russia) in the 1870s
encountered a traditional sod roof in a village house (Schuyler 1876), seldom recorded in
historical writing about Central Asia (Table 1: Case 18). In 1902, a trip across Iceland found
many well-maintained sod houses (Bisiker 1902) (Table 1: Case 21). Around the same time,
turf roofs were kept in houses of the semi-nomadic people in Siberia (Price 1912) (Table 1:
Case 22).

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 Green roofs were described in a Chinese book entitled Chapters from a floating life
(Shen 1808), written as an autobiography in the Qing Dynasty. During his wanderings near
the Chongqing city in central China, he encountered some houses with unusual double
terraceswith elevated gardens (Table 1: Case 15). They were equipped with usual garden
features, including ornamental plants, soil, rockery and pool. Visitors might not realize that
they were lifted above the ground with underlying indoor space. Some houses with more
than two stories had gardens installed on the top level. The innovative landscape technique,
admired as a wonderful artefact, was probably the oldest written record of roof greening in
China.
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to claim land in the US West. The
migrants moving into the vast prairie encountered shortage of timber and stones to construct
houses. Far from commercial sources of construction materials, they might not afford to buy
them. Thus they improvised by using the abundantly available prairie sod to build shelters
(Dick 1954). The sod binding soil tightly in the dense root mat was cut into brick-like pieces,
and laid in courses to establish the walls and the roof (Fig, 2c). A 1870 record described how
early frontier settlers kept themselves warm and dry especially in the harsh winters (National
Geographic 2015) (Table 1: Case 17). Migrants moving from Scandinavia to America
brought the traditional Nordic skill.
Improvement in concrete technology and its common application to flat roofs from
the mid-1800s provided ample platforms for green-roof development. The World Expo in
Paris in 1867 included a demonstration roof-garden project on a flat concrete roof with
innovative waterproofing and drainage (Dunnet and Kingsbury 2008) (Table 1: Case 16).
This was the first record of green-roof installation on the flat roof of a modern reinforced
concrete structure. Le Corbusier’s five elements of new architecture encompassed green roofs
(Werthmann 2007). Together with other founders of the modern architecture movement,
including Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, they advocated green roofs to
compensate for the loss of nature in constructing houses, and as a salubrious extension of the
living room. Nevertheless, the horticultural aspect of green-roof technology remained rather
traditional, especially with the use of the thick and heavy gravel and pipe drainage. Due to
this structural loading concern, retrofitting of green roofs on older buildings could hardly be
possible.
The spontaneous origin of ancient green roofs had a modern revamp if not revival. It
could be traced to an incidental development related to flat-roof technology in the late
nineteenth century in Germany (Köhler 2006). The rapid industrial growth in Berlin
8
demanded many low-cost housing blocks for workers and their families. Called rental
barracks or tenements (Mietskasernen), their extensive flat roofs were waterproofed with tar.
As a combustible material, tar could incur considerable risk of fire, which could spread
quickly on the bare rooftop with little physical obstructions or firebreaks. A resourceful
roofer called H. Koch invented in 1880 a new method to shield the tar with a stratum of sand-
gravel mixture, which is relatively inert and non-flammable. Subsequently, other German
cities adopted this tar-paper-gravel (TPG) roofing technique, which could offer a bonus of
enhanced thermal insulation (Thuring and Dunnett 2014).
The granular sand and gravel materials with porosity furnished water-holding capacity
and dissolved nutrients to support spontaneous vegetation colonization. With propagules
brought by the natural seed rain, mainly by wind and animal dispersal, largely herbaceous
plants began to germinate from the inadvertent seedbed and growing medium on the
tenement-block roofs. Thus, green roofs were able to develop voluntarily on the vegetation-
facilitating rooftops to usher nature into cities (Table 1: Case 19). The species composition
was mainly herbaceous and some xeric components that could survive under stressful
substrate and atmospheric conditions. Plant growth would be contingent upon particle-size
distribution, sand-gravel mixing ratio, and material thickness. The vegetated rooftop
furnished pleasant landscape and environmental services to inhabitants.
When people started to modernize the green-roof technology in Germany in the 1960s,
some remnant Koch green roofs were literally rediscovered and evaluated (Köhler and Keely
2005). They studied serendipitous establishment of green roofs in built-up areas on flat-top
reinforced concrete buildings. The ancient turf roof was able to find a modern expression and
extension in cities literally by default with the help of nature. The unintentional gift of nature
provided the living prototype to verify its feasibility and compatibility with modern structures
in urban settings. The natural vegetation of otherwise barren rooftops facilitated
understanding of roof-habitat conditions to refine intentional green-roof installation. They
provided inspirations and stimuli to enhance subsequent green-roof design, material, and
method.
Thereafter, technological innovations developed light-weight, durable and efficient
modern green-roof materials. Thin and light root barrier and drainage layers made of strong
plastic replaced the old and unwieldy gravel drainage layer and drain pipes. These critical
inventions laid a firm foundation to rekindle the green-roof idea and revitalize adoption in
cities. Despite drastic changes in materials, the fundamental design principles embodied in
traditional sod roofs have persisted.
9
3. Notable modern European exemplars
3.1. London
Building roofs were often left vacant; if planted, they tended to receive simple turf or
herbaceous cover occasionally with some shrubs, hardly using the potentials of green roofs.
Some pioneering green-roof designs in some cities, however, have generated seed ideas to
pimp-prime the fruitful use of an otherwise wasted urban resource.
The heart of London installed a pace-setting green roof at High Street Kensington in
1938. A large green roof occupying 6000-m2 was established on the newly built Derry and
Toms Department Store (Peel 1960). It was the first time that a sizeable roof garden was
installed on the top of a retail structure (Table 1: Case 25; Fig. 2d). For a long period, it
remained Europe’s largest and most elegant and elaborate roof garden renowned for its
attractive and varied landscape design. After eight decades, the original green roof with little
modifications has remained intact, even though the store was closed in 1973 (Anon 2007;
London Parks and Gardens Trust 2016). It is now occupied by a private club, which has
recently restored the garden.
Three gardens with distinctive landscape genres were installed on the Kensington roof,
including Moorish Spanish, Tudor Walled, and English Woodland. The elaborate landscape
designs of ground-level gardens were generously applied, setting it apart from other green
roofs dominated by simplified treatments. The mature gardens are marked by diversities of
hard and soft landscape features, ranging from the formal-geometric paved courtyards and
footpaths, Moorish tower, cloister walk, stone arches, lawn patches, flower beds, tree rows
and clusters, shrubby hedgerows, climber greenwalls and straight canals, to informal-
naturalistic woodlands, undergrowth, herbaceous groundcovers, streams, pools and waterfalls.
Four charming resident flamingos as well as ducks, mandarins and fish accompany artefacts
such as stone and wooden bridges, fountains and pergolas.
The traditional technology included a bitumen waterproofing base. Above it was a
heavy drainage layer composed of loosely laid brick and rubble fragments equipped with an
underlying fan-shaped pipe-drain system emptying to a main drain outlet. The 60-cm soil
above the drainage was increased to 90 cm to accommodate trees (Landscape Institute 1994;
Historic England 2016). The plants are irrigated with water obtained from an artesian well
under the building. Respected as one of the wonders of horticultural England (Bridge 2014),
its eminent historical garden status and unique rooftop setting have been recognized by the
English Heritage Grade II listing on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic
10
Interest in England (Historic England 2016). The historical building itself has also earned
Grade II listing.
The Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf, London, is situated on the roof of the Jubilee
Underground Station and the adjoining subterranean Mall of the Wharf (Table 1: Case 35;
Fig. 3a). Completed in 2002 and covering about 10,000 m2, it is the largest green space in the
Canary Wharf, a new redevelopment area on brown fields of former Docklands (Willerby
Landscape 2002). The urban oasis is adorned with 250 semi-mature trees imported from
Holland and Germany, including mainly Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides),
complemented by Cherry (Prunus spp.), Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Oak
(Quercus x turneri) and Elm (Zelkova spp.). They punctuated extensive lawns designed as
low rolling mounds, accompanied by planting beds filled with flowering herbs, shrubs shaped
as hedges, and raised pools with water channels and fountains. At grade with the surrounding
roads, the park does not give the feel of a rooftop amenity. The soil was prepared offsite
using a sandy material mixed with organic compost to ensure good drainage and sufficient
nutrient supply. Light-weight polystyrene materials were laid below the soil at the mounds to
reduce the loading on the roof slab. The project denoted the first and a fine example of an
intensive green roof installed on a large underground railway facility in a densely-developed
new commercial district of a metropolis.
To the north of the Jubilee park is the new Crossrail Station, which includes a partly
subterranean shopping mall due to open in 2018. The elongated building, measuring 250 m
long and 25–30 m wide, is situated along the edge of an old dock. It is equipped with a roof
garden of a unique design covering 4160 m2 (Table 1: Case 42; Fig. 3b). Opened in 2015, it
features an iconic transparent arching cover made of a timber lattice that partially covers the
site. The shield creates tranquil and protected microclimatic zones, which vary by sunshine,
ventilation and temperature to accommodate some tropical plants that otherwise may not
tolerate the harsh British winter. The unique semi-greenhouse roof garden houses plants from
different parts of the world with varied climatic conditions, echoing the rich maritime and
trading heritage of the former Dockland (Foster Partners 2015). The meridian line bisects the
garden into the east and west domains respectively harboring oriental and occidental plants.
Another futuristic roof garden was open in 2015 on the top of a 38-storey office tower
at 20 Fenchurch Street, in the City of London. The Sky Garden is situated at 155 m above the
street, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the city (Table 1: Case 43). Thus far, the
largest green roof on a skyscraper, the space is enclosed in a glass dome with three stories of
landscape gardens. The vegetated areas are concentrated on the east and western edges
11
arranged in a flight of ascending terraces mainly occupied by paving and restaurants. Of the
3500 m2 accessible to the public, about 1500 m2 has been vegetated. The glass canopy does
not completely cover the roof, as the south side is open and ventilated. It offers a limited
degree of microclimate control to create a semi-enclosed ambience. The site is promoted as
London’s highest public garden, even though access is permissible through advanced booking
with a fixed daily quota.

3.2. Vienna
In 1986, Vienna witnessed the completion of an iconic building labeled
Hundertwasserhaus, which was a tenement block designed by the Austrian artist
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Kraftl 2009). The innovative design principle differed notably
from the customary (Table 1: Case 28; Fig. 3c). It aimed at establishing harmony between
nature and humans by achieving intimate intermingling, and integrating trees as tenants in the
structure (Zaraś-Januszkiewicz et al. 2015). The most prominent feature was dense tree
planting to create a woodland perching on the roof, supported unusually by a thick and heavy
soil layer. Trees were also inserted in occasional niches to overhang above the street and
decorate the façade. It is a fine and early example of woodland installation on a domestic
building.

3.3. Paris
In post-industrial Europe, many old infrastructures and installations have become obsolete
and left unused or fallen into a derelict state. In Paris, an abandoned railway viaduct stretched
4.7 km through built-up precincts from Place de la Bastille to Bois de Vincennes. Built in
1859 and fell into disuse in 1969, it could have been demolished. Instead, it was given a new
lease of life. On the old railway bed that hovers 9 m above the street level running through
residential areas, a surprisingly pleasant and serene greenway was created (Campaña 2002). It
was aptly labeled Promenade Plantée (French for the planted promenade), also known as
Coulée verte (French for the green course) (Table 1: Case 29; Fig. 3d). The narrow roof
corridor supported by quaint red brick arches meanders through the city like an elevated
linear park. With minimum need for civil engineering works or modifications, the project was
relatively inexpensive to install. The verdant strip measures 9–30 m wide, offering a ribbon
garden of 6.5 ha for the enjoyment of Parisians from 1994. This is the world’s first attempt to
install a garden on an abandoned railway viaduct.

12
 The rejuvenated site supports a diverse assemblage of plants, ranging from herbs to
climbers, shrubs and trees, and accompanied by ponds, fountains and other water features
with different aquatic creatures. The well-vegetated oasis has provided varied habitats and
forage for varied spontaneous wildlife. The project has triggered urban regeneration in the old
neighborhood by adding 18,500 m2 of offices and 7000 m2 of shops below the arches. The
commercial activities and employment opportunities have helped to revitalize the adjacent
areas. The property values nearby have been lifted, and restoration of old and construction of
new residential buildings have been triggered in the vicinity to revitalize the local economy.
The adaptive re-use with over-spilling benefits of an industrial heritage has provided a fine
role model (Heathcott 2013). This interesting novelty has probably offered inspirations for
the similar High Line project in New York completed in 2014.
Some grey urban infrastructures, especially high-capacity roads and railways that run
through residential areas, can generate noise and air pollutants to cause chronic nuisance and
harm the health of residents. Noise barriers are often ineffective especially in high-rise built-
up areas. Constructing a deck to cover the linear features could help, but the decks may not
be wisely used to benefit adjacent inhabitants. As cities have many transport lines that are
situated proximal to residents and other sensitive receivers, cost-effective solutions are called
for especially in compact urban areas.
In 1994, Paris witnessed the opening of a large public park called Jardin Atlantique
(French for Atlantic Garden). Presenting a hidden green haven in the densely-developed 15th
arrondissement, it perches entirely on the rooftop of the sprawling Gare Montparnasse
(French for Montparnasse Station) (Table 1: Case 30; Fig. 4a). The rectangular green space
covers 3.4 ha spreading entirely on one level above the concourse, platforms and tracks of the
railway station. The large roof slab is lifted 17 m above the adjoining streets, supported by 12
substantial pillars with wide-spanning arches. An indoor car-parking floor hangs under some
parts of the roof slab. The landscape design included the full complements of a ground-level
city garden, with a large lawn, 500 trees of different sizes and forms, ornamental shrubs,
pavilions, water features, children’s playground, tennis courts, and five elegant theme
gardens (Jarassé 2007). The trees were supported by 1 m of soil to permit unrestricted root
development.
The landscape motif is reminiscent of the Atlantic coast, echoing the destination of
the trains in the Brittany area. The green roof is so large and surrounded on four sides by
office buildings that visitors strolling on it do not feel its elevated status. It looks like a large
city square well adorned with varied forms greenery. The project presents a fine example of
13
using the large land parcel occupied by an urban railway terminus. Otherwise, it would be
impossible to find a sizeable piece of land in a well-developed district to install an urban park.
It furnishes the bonus of concealing a source of noise nuisance and visual disamenity. This is
the first and thus far the finest exemplar of creating a large urban park above a railway station.

3.4. Darmstadt
After building the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna, Mr Hundertwasser was
commissioned to construct a larger and more distinctive green residential building in
Darmstadt in Germany (Silvestre 2007). Completed in 2000, it was named the Waldspirale
(German for Forest Spiral) to echo densely planted trees on the U-shaped building (Table 1:
Case 33; Fig. 4b). It offers an elongated woodland belt of 3,800 m2, running along a 174 m
ram from the ground level to its highest point of 12-storyes in a spiral configuration. This is
the first green roof installed on such a sloping roof. Walking up is tantamount to climbing up
a verdant hill. The intervening 2000-m2 ground level space has also been planted with trees.
Viewed vertically from the sky, the site resembles a mature forest, which shields the
underlying apartment block. The development has literally returned nature to the otherwise
built-up site, setting a fine example of amalgamating nature with buildings and people by
fruitful use of the otherwise barren rooftop.

3.5. Munich
In Munich, the enlightened Petuel Park project denotes an innovative solution to an
otherwise intractable urban environmental blight due to a high-capacity road running through
a built-up area. A huge and expensive deck was built above the road to serve dual objectives,
namely a noise-view cover and a linear urban park (Baureferat 2004). The large reinforced-
concrete roof, measuring 650 m by 60 m, has concealed the sunken road and nullified its
noise and pollution impacts. The park installed on the deck offers a nature-in-city haven,
which is equipped with thick soil to support diverse plant forms (Table 1: Case 38; Fig. 4c).
Generously embellished with lawns, herbs, shrubs and hundreds of trees, and accompanied
by water features and play apparatus, it is warmly welcomed by residents. The 7.4-ha new
green space, opened in 2004, has re-linked the neighborhoods, which were previously
severed by the highway barrier. It facilitates access to nearby green sites, such as Luitpold
Park, Olympic Park and English Garden, which form a well-connected green network. This
is the first use of the sizeable deck above a road to establish a rooftop urban park.

14
 Another transport-related greenery-retrofitting project occurred in the Quartier
Theresienhöhe of Munich. The top of an existing large reinforced-concrete deck above
railway tracks was transformed into a garden in 2010 (Baureferat 2010). Measuring 300 m
long and 50 m wide, the Bahndeckel (German for railway deck) garden offers 1.68 ha of
pleasant garden ambience for the community, which is short of public open spaces (Table 1:
Case 41; Fig. 4d). The revamped site with vegetation and other amenities offers a sizeable
serene open space literally at the doorsteps of residents on both sides. The main challenge
was the limited load-bearing capacity of the old deck built in the 1980s. As a heavy soil layer
could not be supported, tree planting was restricted. The electromagnetic flux of the railway
operation demanded a safe separation distance mainly to protect children’s health. The site
had to be raised, requiring extensive use of light-weight materials and designs (styrofoam
core with a rubber paving) to overcome the load constraint (Folkerts 2011). The project
exemplifies the first use of a large deck above railway tracks to build a rooftop public garden.

4. Notable modern North American exemplars

4.1. New York
The Casino Theatre at the 39th Street and Broadway in New York was the first
building in the metropolis equipped with a roof garden with flower beds, a stage, seats and a
café (Dalzell 2014) (Table 1: Case 20). Completed in 1882, it was the first record of a roof
garden in North America. Partly covered by a sliding glass ceiling, it was then a novel idea
for roof gardens. The project emulated the theatre gardens in Europe, but the land cost in
central New York was too high to build at the ground level. Instead, the garden was installed
on the roof. The idea could be realized mainly due to advances in construction engineering,
including stronger foundation and steel, and invention of the passenger lift. It became a
popular performance venue in open-air ambience in summer. Without air conditioning then,
the shows previously had to move to suburban areas in the warm months. The project served
as a forerunner, as some theaters, hotels, offices and apartments in the city thereafter
incorporated green roofs, to the extent that New York was described as a city of roof gardens
by the Times in 1893.
In retrospect, some lessons could be learnt from the Casino Theatre. As the primary
objective was performances and commercial activities, the roof was largely hard-paved with
meager vegetation as flowering herbs and climbers in small beds and pots. With scant
greenery and no tree shading, it could perhaps be described as a rooftop entertainment space
decorated with some plants. The novelty was the open-air atmosphere for gregarious leisure
15
pursuits in a semi-private setting elevated above the ground level, decorated sparingly with
horticultural ingredients. Its main contribution was spearheading a fad that subsequently
triggered more roof gardens with better vegetative provisions. After a fire in 1903, the theater
was enlarged and rebuilt in 1905 and finally closed in 1930.
Thereafter, prominent green roofs did not appear in the US until the building of the
sprawling Rockefeller Center at the Fifth Avenue of New York in 1933–1936 despite the
Great Depression. Using pre-modernized green-roof technology incurring heavy drainage
and substrate layers, the building was especially strengthened to support the load. It
represents one of the few conventional green roofs that still exists in North America
(Greenroof.com 2016a), and the first time that rather elaborate gardens were installed on the
roofs and podiums of a commercial complex (Table 1: Case 24; Fig. 5a). Green roofs were
installed on the top of low-rise blocks and the setback podiums of high-rise blocks. They
contributed collectively 7000 m2 of elevated green spaces to the city’s commercial heart.
Each site adopted a unique landscape design with formal geometrical layouts, ranging from
lawns, herbaceous flower beds, neatly-clipped hedges and topiaries (Dailey 2014). The
original gardens on the RCA building, which were then open to the public, included the
Garden of Nations, bird sanctuary, vegetable garden, children’s garden and rock garden.
Unfortunately, all but the last had been removed. At present, four gardens have remained
respectively on the British Empire Building, La Maison Francaise, Palazzo d’Italia, and
International Building North.
The remaining Rockefeller gardens, mainly extensive green roofs, are now private
and inaccessible to the public. For its important status in the US urban history, the site was
designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Its nomination document highlighted
the roof gardens as follows (National Park Service 2016): “The roof-top gardens are one of
the most successful of all of the Centers innovations, reminiscent of the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon. The plan called for a wide variety of gardens spread over all the buildings and
connected by roof level bridges – seven acres in all. There was also to be a restaurant, music
conservatory, sculpture exhibit, and marionette theater. Financial problems ensued and some
of the gardens survived but the roof bridges never materialized.”

4.2. San Francisco

Opened originally in 1850 on land donated by Colonel John Geary to San Francisco
city for park use in perpetuity, the Union Square was then one of the few unnamed city-center
public open spaces (Nuno 1993). Originally covered by barren coastal sand dunes with some
16
chaparral vegetation, it was later leveled but remained undeveloped, whilst sometimes used
as a rough sandy baseball field. Subsequently, it was named to commemorate the public
meetings held there in support of the Union army during the American Civil War. In the
1870s, it was formally developed as a park, which was re-designed in 1903, and rehabilitated
after the Great Earthquake of 1906. Old photographs of the 1920s and 1930s showed
extensive lawn cover with scattered shrubs and trees and peripheral tree rows.
The innovative idea to build the world’s first underground carpark at the park was
first suggested in 1910. It responded to shortage of parking spaces in the adjacent
increasingly busy commercial and shopping precinct. However, it was until 1939 that the
project was entrusted to a private company, the Union Square Garage Corporation, to build
with private funding. It was assigned a lease of the subsurface portion of the land with the
proviso that the park proper had to be preserved. The unprecedented land grant had to be
ruled by the California Supreme Court, which allowed the city government to issue the lease.
It was the world’s first urban park built on the top of a reinforced multi-leveled
underground structure, with the surface at grade with surrounding streets (Table 1: Case 26).
The four-story subterranean structure with 1700 parking spaces was propped by 160 massive
columns, which also supported the roof garden. The revamped Union Square sitting on a
rooftop covering 1.1 ha was opened in 1942, with faithful reprovision of lawn and vegetation
coverage. Refurnished in 2002, however, the site had reduced vegetated cover and biomass
and more hard paving. The Square was designated as a Historical Landmark under the
California Office of Historic Preservation (2016). The novel project presented a role model
and impetus for similar underground facilities with rooftop gardens in other cities. The other
principal urban park in San Francisco, the Portsmouth Square, was similarly transformed in
the 1950s.
A modern museum aiming at sustainable design, the California Academy of Sciences
in the Golden Gate Park, opened in San Francisco in 2008. Its top is equipped with a
signature green roof composed of hills and domes to mimic the rolling topography of the
city-fringe countryside (Table 1: Case 40). The elevated green area, covering 17,652 m2,
received an assemblage of 50 native wild flowers and other species to enrich urban
biodiversity. The extensive green site emulates a diverse indigenous ecosystem in the natural
hills, attracting local wildlife to seek forage and shelter. Planting was conducted by laying
50,000 porous trays, made of biodegradable coconut coir. They were designed to allow roots
to penetrate into adjoining trays to bind them together to form a stable and unified substrate
(Greenroof.com, 2017a). Decomposition of the organic tray materials in due course will
17
eliminate the original patchwork boundaries, and provide humus to stabilize soil structure and
nutrients for plant growth. The 7.5-cm growing medium in conjunction with the living plants
offer excellent thermal insulation and evapotranspiration cooling, to the tune of 5.6˚C
reduction in indoor temperature. The living cushion also serves as an effective noise barrier,
and captures most of the rainwater to significantly trim the stormwater discharge and improve
drainage water quality (American Society of Landscape Architects, 2017). The exemplar
excels in creating a natural ecosystem with rolling landform and diverse ecology.

4.3. Chicago
The Chicago City Hall, an 11-storey classical revival building constructed in 1911,
made a pioneering attempt in 2001 to retrofit a modern green roof (Dvorak and Carroll 2008)
(Table 1: Case 34). A heat wave in 1995 struck the city with excess deaths of over 700
citizens, one of the most calamitous cases in US history (Semenza et al. 1996). The
demonstration project aimed at encouraging green-roof installation to bring passive cooling
of the city. The roof covers 3600 m2, of which about 1900 m2 in the western half were
greened. Despite the age of the structure, the roof slab was found to be adequate to support an
extensive green roof. Only a 10 m2 patch situated above some strong interior columns could
bear the load of a small semi-intensive patch. The pilot project tested different green-roof
materials, techniques, maintenance, long-term performance and sustainability, with a
knowledge-transfer objective. It denoted a prominent example of retrofitting a green roof on
an old building, and provided practical hints on the precautions and techniques.
The Chicago project was pioneering in planting a broad assemblage of herbaceous
plants from the regional natural vegetation, mainly a temperate grassland. It tested the
principle and practice of reconciliation ecology (Rosenzweig 2001, 2003). Beginning with
120 species, the planting palette was gradually modified and supplemented to reach 160
species, totaling 20,000 individual plants sourced from the ecoregion (Miller 2005). The
number of tested native species set a record. Including native grasses, herbs, flowering shrubs
and two trees, they were initially chosen to attract and support wildlife, and to create radial
band of different colors, form and texture. They were grouped into zones to assess the
influence of site factors such as solar radiation and inherent factors such substrate materials
and thickness.
After planting was completed in 2000–2001, initial growth was acceptable. In time,
species interactions and competitions led to exclusion of weaker species and domination by
some aggressive tall grasses, bringing progressive changes in the species mix. Some plots
18
experienced poor performance and lost their vegetation cover. The results prompted changes
in the planting strategy to emulating the pre-urbanization prairie vegetation composition.
Meanwhile, aggressive species were systematically removed, and new species added through
seeding. The diverse and native flora attracted varied and mainly indigenous wildlife (Dvorak
and Volder 2010). The infrequent human presence on the roof fostered visits by birds and
invertebrates to seek shelter and forage, and use as a stepping-stone habitat to penetrate built-
up areas. The rooftop meadow contributed to the extensive array of natural protected sites in
the Chicago metropolitan area collectively known as Chicago Wilderness (2016).
The planting trial offered some object lessons for establishing naturalistic or
ecological green roofs. It verified the difficulty of re-enacting a natural vegetation mix in a
largely artificial green-roof setting. With a different regime of soil, water, temperature,
humidity, wind, solar radiation and seed rain, many chosen prairie species could not perform
well and could not maintain the contrived species mix. Control or regimentation through
management inputs would contradict the original intention of re-creating a natural and self-
sustaining vegetation. Besides, the continual manipulation may not be cost-effective. Nature
is probably too complex for humans to replicate based on the present knowledge and skill
levels. The expectation of re-enacting the interconnected and interacting components of
natural ecosystems could be appropriately circumscribed. Overall, with limited understanding
of nature and planning on human terms, nature might not run the anticipated course.
Actively promoted by the city government, Chicago has become a leader in green-
roof installation in the US. The Millennium Park is a sprawling 10-ha urban green space
installed on the roof of a huge subterranean car park for 2126 cars (Gilfoyle 2006) (Table 1:
Case 36; Fig. 5b). Undergrounding car-parking is a sensible way to use the precious inner-
city land, an approach pioneered by the Union Square in San Francisco in 1942 (Section 4.2).
Opened in 2003, the Park has remained the biggest vegetated roof in the world. The site is
particularly attractive and welcomed because of the at-grade design. The land was previously
designated for an extension of the nearby Grant Park, but was changed to transport use.
Recently, the unsightly disused railway tracks and parking lots called for urban renewal. The
project denoted a successful transformation of the brown field into a verdant outdoor green
space for people and wildlife. It is unique in four aspects: (1) the large park sits entirely on
an underground reinforced-concrete structure; (2) the site serves multiple functions including
elaborate recreational facilities and notable outdoor artworks; (3) the rather costly US$484
million project was financed by a public-private partnership, with donations from individuals,

19
corporations and foundations; and (4) the municipal government has entrusted the park
management to a not-for-profit private foundation.

4.4. Dearborn, MI
The sprawling Ford River Rouge Factory near Dearborn, MI, an old factory built in
1917 covering an area of 243 ha, was redeveloped in 2000. Its new truck plant was equipped
with the largest Sedum roof in the world, extending over 42,178 m2 on the top of a single free-
standing building (Table 1: Case 37). The succulent plants are supported by a thin 3.2-cm
mat system, which is light in weight at 49 kg/m2 when saturated with water (greenroof.com,
2017b). The Sedum plants were pre-cultivated in the nursery and laid on the roof to bring
instant greening. The vegetated roof has helped to reduce solar heat influx to lower indoor
temperature by 5.6˚C in summer, and retain indoor heat to raise it by 5.6˚C in winter,
resulting in notable 5% heating-cum-cooling energy savings (The Henry Ford, 2017). It also
reduces the stormwater discharge, improves the quality of the drainage water, and provides
habitats for wildlife.

5. Notable modern Asian exemplars

5.1. Tokyo
Based on records, a roof garden in the traditional Japanese style was installed on the
top of the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo, representing the first roof greening in
Japan (Table 1: Case 23). The building was destroyed during the Great Kanto earthquake in
1923, and the replacement structure did not include a green roof (Mikami 2005). Since the
1980s, some notable green roofs had been established in Japan, serving as catalysts and role
models. Three exemplary cases, denoting the provision of nature despite intensive urban
development, have been selected for discussion below.
In the busy Kanda-Surugadai precinct of Tokyo, a dense woodland was installed in
1984 on the top of the low-rise podium block of the Mitsui Sumitomo insurance company
headquarters (Kajima Corporation 2016). Occupying 2600 m2, the U-shaped elongated site
offers an important oasis to punctuate the otherwise densely developed area (Table 1: Case
27). It represents the first time that a rather large woodland was installed on a modern
commercial building. Besides the continuous tree canopy, a corner of the site was devoted to
a community allotment garden. Nearby residents can draw lots to win the right to cultivate a
small plot free-of-charge for one year. This arrangement has linked with the local community
to promote organic cropping, recreational farming and wholesome healthy outdoor activities,
20
and to fulfill corporate social responsibility. In addition, the woodland provides valuable
ecosystem services to the locality, including air quality improvement, cooling benefits,
mitigation of the urban heat island effect, and enrichment of urban biodiversity.

5.2. Fukuoka
In Fukuoka in Kyushu, southern Japan, the prominent ACROS (Asian Crossroads
Over the Sea), which is an institutional building completed in 1995, presented an outstanding
innovative design, which combined the concepts of green roof and green wall (Table 1: Case
31; Fig. 5c). It houses the Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall, which is a center for
international cultural and information exchanges. The proposal to build in the existing Tenjin
Park was initially opposed by citizens. The designer compensated for the loss of nature by
literally dressing the entire façade facing the park with vegetation. As the building steps back
floor by floor, the setback part on every floor was planted to create a large stepped garden
covering the entire building frontage.
The 15 levels of terraces were planted with a varied collection of trees, shrubs and
herbs. Soil of 30–60 cm thickness on the terraces supported the growth of 50,000 plants
representing 120 species (Greenroof.com 2016b). Measuring 60 m tall with 8,300 m2 of
contiguous greenery, the edifice viewed from the park resembles a charming green hill
covered with natural woodland vegetation. It holds the proud record of the largest green
cover on one building in the world (Velazquez 2011). It also sets a record by planting on one
structure such a wide diversity of plants in terms of species composition and growth forms.

5.3. Osaka
In Osaka, the Municipal Central Gymnasium in Yahataya Park completed in 1996
furnished another world green-roof record. The large stadium was concealed underground. A
dome with the widest span of 110 m and a greatest height of 26 m covers the main arena,
which can accommodate 10,000 spectators. An adjacent smaller stadium has a 52-m wide
dome (Osaka City 2016a, 2016b). The tops of both domes were filled with soil and planted
to form two circular green roofs (Table 1: Case 32). The large garden measures about 14,500
m2 and the small one 2,500 m2. They represent the first green roof established on the top of a
sizeable sports structure, and the largest green roof installed on a domed roof of considerable
span.
Catering to the differential load-bearing capacity of the roof, trees have been planted
along the peripheral belt and lighter lawn and shrubs in the remainder of the sites. Footpaths
21
spiral from the ground to the dome top. From a distance, the two domes resemble a pair of
low knolls covered with natural vegetation. Viewed vertically from above, little sign of the
stadium structure could be seen. They jointly contribute 1.7 ha of valuable greenspaces,
literally returning nature to the park despite insertion of the massive sports facilities. Without
this bold engineering-cum-horticultural endeavor, nearly a third of the park’s land would
have been usurped. The otherwise bare, hot and hard roof surfaces of the large structures
have been transformed into lush greenery with cooling and other benefits.

5.4. Hong Kong

Hong Kong has one of the highest population and development densities in the world.
Due to the rugged topography, the 7.4 million population is accommodated in about 24% of
the limited 1108 km2 territory. Public urban open space provision is one of the lowest in the
world, at merely 2.9 m2/person with decline in recent years (Jim and Chan 2016). Green
roofs installed on building tops could provide a supplementary source of green spaces. The
modern green-roof idea was introduced in 2005 beginning with experiments conducted at the
University of Hong Kong. A pioneering roof woodland was installed in 2005 on an
electricity substation in the old city core (Table 1: Case 39; Fig. 5d). A second larger sky
woodland also on an electricity substation was established in 2008in the Tseung Kwan O new
town. The 580 m2 site is equipped with 1 m of soil to emulate the natural woodland soil,
including 0.8 m subsoil and 0.2 m topsoil enriched with organic matter.
The design concept was to cover the entire building envelope with lush vegetation by
creating a tropical woodland (Jim 2008) using only native tree species, and covering the
facades with climbers. A total of 31 native trees species were sourced. In addition, the walls
on four sides of the building occupying about 900 m2 were planted with tropical flowering
climber species that scale the vertical habitat using different training methods, including bare
wall, cable and mesh (Jim 2015b, 2015c). The trees planted in 2013 are beginning to establish
a closed woodland canopy. Some climber species have reached the top of the external walls
at 13.5 m. A living livery to display the greenest building with the largest green cover in the
city will soon wrap the entire building. It signifies the world’s first rooftop tropical woodland.
The project serves as an exemplar to demonstrate the feasibility of combined green-roof and
green-wall technology to wrap around the building envelope in an exceptionally compact city.

6. Implications and conclusion

22
 Green roofs have a deep root in antiquity. The development of the vernacular green
roof began as a serendipitous human contrivance. People living in harsh environments with
climatic extremes, such as the Arctic lands and the semi-arid continental interior of Central
Asia, were short of usual building materials such as stone and wood and the means to make
bricks and tiles. Humans were circumscribed by the severe constraints of nature. Making use
of the meager natural provisions at hand, they enlisted the abundantly available sod to build
shelters. This is believed to be the ancient origin of green roofs. The basic design principles,
including the critical structural timber protection, waterproofing, drainage and substrate, were
established at the embryonic stage.
If the sod-roof innovation could serve them well, people would continue to hone and
use it. The traditional sod-roof technology has been kept alive from ancient to modern eras.
Departing from the vernacular tradition, the aristocratic families and religious bodies in
medieval Europe living away from the harsh climatic zones built some fine green roofs
mainly as terrace gardens with elegant landscape designs. They denote almost wholesale
transfer of elaborate ground-level Renaissance gardens on artificial structures.. Some elegant
examples have been bequeathed for the appreciation and enjoyment of the present generation.
The modern reinforced concrete technology invented in the 1850s allowed
construction of multi-story buildings with extensive flat roofs. The technique of installing
gardens on flat roofs was demonstrated in the Paris World Expo in 1867. It could
substantially increase the potentials for garden establishment above the ground level on many
more buildings. In the late nineteenth century Germany, the spontaneous vegetation growth
on flat roofs demonstrated nature’s ability to establish green roofs on tenement blocks. These
spontaneous green roofs provided insights, inspirations and impetus to move from incidental
to deliberate establishment of green roofs on modern buildings with flat roofs. Further
scientific research led to inventions in the 1960s of new green-roof materials, including light-
weight plastic root barrier and drainage layers. The previous bottleneck of heavy and
cumbersome drainage was overcome. The technological breakthrough has permitted
widespread and fast green-roof installation using high-quality and standardized factory-
produced products. It revived and revamped the ancient green-roof idea, and re-launched it
on a sound technological platform for mass applications. Despite these drastic changes, the
modernized green roofs remain in spirit and in substance a faithful variant of the ancient
prototype.
Urban existence is but a rather recent human phenomenon in our long association
with nature. The convenient and safe milieu with freedom from the capriciousness and
23
harshness of nature was accompanied by undesirable detachment from nature. Deprived of
the salubrious benefits of nature, humanity would strive to create semblance of nature in our
urban dwellings. Such a forlorn wish has nurtured rus in urbe in the attempt to invite rurality
back into urbanity. Attempts were made to mitigate the loss of blissful countryside by
creating salutogenic ingredients (Antonovsky 1987) in our urban homes. As cities become
bigger and more compact, the innate desire to find solace in the pastoral ideal tends to grow
stronger. The lack of ground-level space to furnish nature-in-city could find an alternative in
green roofs. The latest innovations and variations can contribute to the quest for more
sustainable and livable cities.

Acknowledgments
The research grant supports kindly provided by the Matching Fund of the University
Grants Committee, Dr Stanley Ho Alumni Challenge Fund and MTR Corporation are
gratefully acknowledged.

24
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Figures
Fig. 1. (a) (Left) The terrace garden in the Benedictine Abbey, Mont Saint Michel,
Normandy, France (Table 1 Case 8; Photo credit Michael Chan). (b) (Right) The green
roof on the Torre Guinigi (Italian for Gat huinigi Tower) in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy (Table
1 Case 9; Photo credit H005 under Wikimedia Commons
ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinigi_Tower).

Fig. 2. (a) (Upper left) Traditional log farmhouses with sod roof in Glittersjaa Mountain,
Norway (Photo credit Tina Stafrén and visitnorway.com). (b) (Upper right) Traditional
semi-subterranean sod house in Iceland (Photo credit Christian Bickel under Wikimedia
Commons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house). (c) (Lower left) A sod house in
the US prairie frontier in 1901 (Photo credit Public domain at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house). (d) (Lower right) The Derry and Toms roof
garden established in 1938 at High Street Kensington, London, (Table 1 Case 25; Photo
credit C.Y. Jim).

Fig. 3. (a) (Upper left) The Jubilee Garden on the roof of an underground railway station in
Canary Wharf, London (Table 1 Case 35; Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (b) (Upper right) The
roof garden on the Crossrail station in Canary Wharf, London (Table 1 Case 40; Photo
credit C.Y. Jim). (c) (Lower left) The rooftop woodland on the Hundertwasserhaus
apartment block in Vienna (Table 1 Case 28; Photo credit Hubert Kluger). (d) (Lower
right) The Promenade Plantée on an abandoned railway viaduct in Paris (Table 1 Case
29; Photo credit C.Y. Jim).
Fig. 4. (a) (Upper left) The Jardin Atlantique on Gare Montparnasse in Paris (Table 1 Case
30; Photo credit Jim Linwood under Wikimedia Commons at
https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Jardin_Atlantique). (b) (Upper right) The Waldspirale on
an apartment building in Darmstadt, Germany (Table 1 Case 33: Photo credit Adrian
Balles). (c) (Lower left) The Petuel Park above a highway in Munich (Table 1 Case 37;
Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (d) (Lower right) The Bahndeckel above railway tracks in
Munich (Table 1 Case 39: Photo credit C. Y. Jim).

Fig. 5. (a) (Upper left) One of the roof gardens at the Rockefeller Center in New York (Table
1 Case 24; Photo credit Tishman Speyer). (b) (Upper right) The huge Millennium Park
32
on the roof of an underground carpark in Chicago (Table 1 Case 36; Photo credit City of
Chicago). (c) (Lower left) The Stepped Garden on the façade of the ACROS building in
Fukuoka, Japan (Table 1 Case 31; Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (d) (Lower right) The Sky
Woodland and greenwalls on an electricity substation in Tseung Kwan O new town in
Hong Kong (Table 1 Case 38; Photo credit CLP).

33
34
Fig. 1. (a) (Left) The terrace garden in the Benedictine Abbey, Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, France
(Table 1 Case 8; Photo credit Michael Chan). (b) (Right) The greenroof on the Torre Guinigi (Italian
for Guinigi Tower) in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy (Table 1 Case 9; Photo credit H005 under Wikimedia
Commons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinigi_Tower).

35
36
Fig. 2. (a) (Upper left) Traditional log farmhouses with sod roof in Glittersjaa Mountain, Norway
(Photo credit Tina Stafrén and visitnorway.com). (b) (Upper right) Traditional semi-subterranean sod
house in Iceland (Photo credit Christian Bickel under Wikimedia Commons at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house). (c) (Lower left) A sod house in the US prairie frontier in
1901 (Photo credit Public domain at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house). (d) (Lower right) The
Derry and Toms roof garden established in 1938 at High Street Kensington, London, (Table 1 Case 25;
Photo credit C.Y. Jim).

37
38
Fig. 3. (a) (Upper left) The Jubilee Garden on the roof of an underground railway station in Canary
Wharf, London (Table 1 Case 35; Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (b) (Upper right) The roof garden on the
Crossrail station in Canary Wharf, London (Table 1 Case 40; Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (c) (Lower left)
The rooftop woodland on the Hundertwasserhaus apartment block in Vienna (Table 1 Case 28;
Photo credit Hubert Kluger). (d) (Lower right) The Promenade Plantée on an abandoned railway
viaduct in Paris (Table 1 Case 29; Photo credit C.Y. Jim).

39
40
Fig. 4. (a) (Upper left) The Jardin Atlantique on Gare Montparnasse in Paris (Table 1 Case 30; Photo
credit Jim Linwood under Wikimedia Commons at https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_Atlantique).
(b) (Upper right) The Waldspirale on an apartment building in Darmstadt, Germany (Table 1 Case 33:
Photo credit Adrian Balles). (c) (Lower left) The Petuel Park above a highway in Munich (Table 1 Case
37; Photo credit C.Y. Jim). (d) (Lower right) The Bahndeckel above railway tracks in Munich (Table 1
Case 39: Photo credit C. Y. Jim).

41
42
Fig. 5. (a) (Upper left) One of the roof gardens at the Rockefeller Center in New York (Table 1 Case 24;
Photo credit Tishman Speyer). (b) (Upper right) The huge Millennium Park on the roof of an
underground carpark in Chicago (Table 1 Case 36; Photo credit City of Chicago). (c) (Lower left) The
Stepped Garden on the façade of the ACROS building in Fukuoka, Japan (Table 1 Case 31; Photo
credit C.Y. Jim). (d) (Lower right) The Sky Woodland and greenwalls on an electricity substation in
Tseung Kwan O new town in Hong Kong (Table 1 Case 38; Photo credit CLP).

43
Table 1. Chronological landmarks in the historical development of 43 pioneering green roofs and their exemplary features.

Historical era Case Type* Name Location Year Type Area (m2) Exemplary feature
c. 4000
(A) Antiquity 1 I Various zigguratsa Mesopotamia BC Elevated platform gardene n.a. Trees planted on large religious structure
4000 BC to AD
500 Earliest record of green roof
2 I Hanging Garden of Babylona Mesopotamia c. 500 BC Roof gardene n.a. Elaborate garden on palace building
First record of green roof on non-religious
structure (palace)
3 ? Roman Villa of Mysteriesb Pompeii, Italy c. 50 Terrace garden n.a. Garden on elevated terrace of villa
First record of green roof on domestic
building in a Roman city
4 ? Roman audience halla Caesarea, Middle East c. 400 Terrace garden n.a. First record of green roof on institutional
building in a Roman city

(B) Medieval 5 ? 14-story Arabian buildinga Cairo, Egypt c. 1000 Roof garden n.a. First record of irrigated roof garden on a
AD 500 to 1500 tall domestic city building
6 E Traditional Viking longhouseb Iceland c. 1050 Sod roof of log house n.a. Oldest archaeological record of traditional
Viking longhouse with green roof
7 E Traditional Nordic village house Opdal, Numedal, c. 1200 Sod roof of log house n.a. Old existing rural farmstead with sod roof
Norway built eight centuries ago
8 E Benedictine Abbey Le Mont Saint Michel, c. 1300 Terrace garden n.a. Oldest remaining roof garden in an non-
Normandy, France rural elaborate religious compound
9 I Torre Guinigi Lucca, Tuscany, Italy 1384 Roof garden on towere n.a. Oldest remaining urban roof garden
Only case of oak trees planted on tall brick
tower of wealthy family residence
10 S Villa Medici Careggi, Tuscany, Italy 1417 Terrace gardene n.a. Oldest extant aristocratic family residence
with roof garden of fine landscape design
11 S Palazzo Piccolomini Pienza, Tuscany, Italy 1463 Terrace gardene n.a. Finest example of Italian Renaissance roof
garden

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(C) Early modern 12 E Guest and store houses Flaaten, Vinje, c. 1700 Sod roof of log house n.a. Village houses with sod roof still built in
AD 1500 to 1900 Telemark, Norway Norway in early eighteenth century
13 E Barabara turf houses of Inuitsa Aleutian Islands 1778 Sod roof of sod house n.a. Early record of sod house built by
indigenous Inuits in Arctic North America
14 E Traditional village housesc Abyssinia (Ethiopia) 1806 Sod roof n.a. Rare record of green roof in Africa
15 E Various domestic housesc Chongqing, China 1808 Roof garden n.a. Oldest green roof record in China
16 E World Expo flat concrete roofc Paris, France 1867 Roof garden n.a. First green roof on flat top of modern
reinforced concrete structure
17 E Sod houses of early settlersa Prairie, USA 1870 Sod roof of sod house n.a. First record of Nordic migrants in US West
building Viking style sod house
18 E Traditional village housesc,d Turkistan 1876 Sod roof n.a. Rare record of green roof in Central Asia
19 E Various tar-paper-gravel roofc,d Berlin, Germany 1880 Roof greening by n.a. Common spontaneous colonization of flat
spontaneous vegetation gravel roofs of residential blocks by
ruderal plants
20 E Casino Theatrec New York, NY, USA 1882 Roof theater with some n.a. First record of roof garden on commercial
vegetation in planters building in North America

(D) Late modern 21 E Traditional village housesc,d Iceland 1902 Sod roof of sod house n.a. Historical record of Nordic green roofs
AD 1900-1999 22 E Traditional village housesc,d Siberia 1902 Sod roof of log house n.a. Rare record of traditional green roof in
Arctic Asia
23 E Mitsukoshi Department Storec Tokyo, Japan 1923 Japanese garden on roof n.a. Oldest modern green roof record in Japan
24 E,S Rockefeller Center New York, USA 1936 Roof and terrace gardens 7,000 First elaborate set of roof gardens on
of different genrese roofs of a commercial complex
25 E,I Derry and Toms Department London, UK 1938 Roof gardens with three 6,000 First elaborate set of roof gardens on top
Store different genresf,g of a department store building
26 E,S Union Square San Francisco, USA 1942 Roof garden abovee 11,000 First green roof on underground structure
underground carpark which is first underground carpark
27 I Mitsui Sumitomo headquarters Tokyo, Japan 1984 Woodland on top of 2,600 First dense woodland established on a
podium blockg low-rise podium roof
28 I Hundertwasserhaus Vienna, Austria 1986 Roof and terrace garden 1,200 First dense woodland on an iconic low-
of apartment blockf rise apartment building
29 E,I Promenade Plantée Paris, France 1994 Railway viaduct gardenf 65,000 First garden on disused railway viaduct
30 E,I Jardin Atlantique Paris, France 1994 Roof garden above 34,000 First notable green roof of railway station
railway stationf Largest garden on top of a railway station

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 31 I ACROS Building Fukuoka, Japan 1995 Woodland on stepped 8,300 First high-rise building with green façade
façade of 15-storey Largest vegetated area on a building
buildingg Highest plant diversity on a building
First case of combined green roof and
greenwall on a large building
32 E,S Municipal Central Gymnasium Osaka, Japan 1996 Roof garden on domed 17,000 First green roof on sports stadia which are
roofs of two large semi-subterranean
covered sports stadiae Largest green roof on sports structures
Largest green roof supported by a dome
with a maximum span of 110 m

(E) Recent 33 I Waldspirale Darmstadt, Germany 2000 Roof garden in linear 3,800 First roof woodland spiraling from ground
from 2000 spiral configurationg level to highest 12-floor rooftop
34 E,I Chicago City Hall Chicago, IL, USA 2001 Roof garden on old 1,900 First notable refitting of green roof on an
(1911) buildinge old building with many wild native plants
35 E.I Jubilee Park London, UK 2002 Roof garden above 10,000 First sizeable green roof on underground
underground railwayf railway station and shopping mall
36 E,I Millennium Park Chicago, IL, USA 2003 Roof garden above 100,000 Largest green roof in the world at grade
underground carparkf on top of huge underground carpark
37 E Ford Dearborn Trunk Plant Dearborn, MI, USA 2003 Sedum roof on factory 42,178 Largest sedum green roof, and largest green
Living Roof building for trunk assembly roof sitting on a factory building
38 E,I Petuel Park Munich, Germany 2004 Roof garden above busy 74,000 First large green roof established on a
highwayf huge deck above a busy highway
39 I Sky Woodland Hong Kong, China 2005 & Woodlands on top of 900 First native tropical woodlands installed
2008 electricity substationg on top of electricity substations
40 S California Academy of Sciences San Francisco, CA, USA 2008 Biodegradable modular 17,652 Sloping roof with hills and domes, with 50
tray system native wild flower and other plant species
41 E Bahndeckel Munich, Germany 2010 Roof garden above 16,800 First large green roof established on a
railway trackse huge deck above railway tracks
42 I Crossrail Station London, UK 2015 Roof garden above 4,160 First semi-greenhouse garden on top of
railway stationf railway station and shopping mall
43 E,S 20 Fenchurch Street Sky Garden London, UK 2015 Roof garden on 38-storey 3500 First hanging garden installed on top of
office buildinge skyscraper
*
Three types of green roofs can be recognized, namely extensive (E), semi-intensive (S), and intensive (I); ? denotes cannot be ascertained due to lack of historical evidence.

46
green roof existence and information source:
a
No longer existing; from historical records.
b
No longer existing; from archaeological evidence.
c
Traced from historical documentary records.
d
Most cases have been lost, with some remaining ones.
Tree planting on green roof:
e
Sparse planting of trees.
f
Significant planting of trees.
g
Designed as urban woodland with interlocking tree crowns covering the site.

47