by Brianna Crandall — December 18, 2015—Michigan-based horticultural science green roof company LiveRoof recently announced two exemplary projects that selected the company’s green roof solution to enhance their facilities’ goals — a collegiate housing community in Georgia and a First Nation community center in British Columbia.
Georgia Heights collegiate housing
What once was a hot surface parking lot in downtown Athens, Georgia, is now the environmentally responsive Georgia Heights collegiate housing community. EdR, a major developer, owner and manager of high-quality collegiate housing, thoughtfully designed and engineered the recently opened Georgia Heights to be an eco-responsible housing development, says LiveRoof.
The design includes underground water quality treatment chambers and a 1,200-square-foot LiveRoof rooftop garden. These systems all work in concert to help trap, treat storm water, and filter out impurities, in addition to cooling surface temperatures.
As Tom Trubiana, president of EdR, notes, “Green lounge or activity spaces are valued amenities at our communities because they provide our residents a place to relax and renew away from the demands of college life.”
Smith Planning Group, a civil engineering, land planning, and landscape architecture firm, worked with LiveRoof and James Greenhouses to incorporate green infrastructure on the project in order to create a place of lasting value to the local community. The general contractor was the award-winning Juneau Construction, and the vegetated roof was installed by Valleycrest Landscape Companies.
Splatsin Community Centre
The Splatsin chose the LiveRoof living roof for their new community center to reflect a traditional winter shelter and to provide stewardship for the earth.
The Splatsin First Nation in western Canada chose the LiveRoof living roof system for its new community center to reflect a traditional winter shelter and provide stewardship for the earth. Fulfilling a long-held dream, the Splatsin carefully crafted a new three-story, 33,581 square-foot building to reflect their history and focus on the future by caring for the land. This summer, the building was topped off with a 24,200-square-foot lightweight planted roof.
The new Splatsin Community Centre provides space for meetings, banquets, weddings, reunions, and concerts. The facility will also have a high school regulation basketball court as well as running track on the mezzanine and will provide many opportunities for community members to access physical activities. Education outreach is another key focus.
The unique dome-shaped green roof was designed to represent a traditional winter shelter used by Splatsin ancestors. The site design allows stormwater and below-grade drainage to be captured and used to irrigate the vegetated roof as well as ground-level native landscapes around the building and in the area to provide low maintenance and water conservation.
The vegetated roof was grown by NATS Nursery of Langley, British Columbia, using a project-specific evergreen sedum mix with native accent plants. As the local LiveRoof licensed grower, green roof experts at NATS Nursery worked closely with the design team and Splatsin leadership to develop the plant palette reflecting the building’s design elements. Encan Construction and Laing Roofing Ltd. were responsible for the construction and installation of the living roof.
Green roofs
According to LiveRoof, green roofs provide nature, function and beauty. The company’s patented, subterranean modular system unites the soil and plants, creating a naturally beautiful, meadow-like aesthetic. The roofs provide aesthetic, environmental, social and financial benefits, including extension of roof life, energy conservation, enhanced public relations, and conservation of municipal septic systems.
