Despite offering often magnificent views, the top deck of many buildings in the Central Business Districts of large cities are often desolate and under-utilized.
They’re typically home to plant rooms, water-storage tanks, fly-about rubbish, and not much else.
Property owners have been reluctant to transform them into rooftop gardens despite knowing that planting within cities improves air quality and reduces heat.
But despite the reluctance, rooftop gardens are becoming more common.
French, Swiss, and Canadian laws demand that all new commercial and residential buildings have at least a partly green rooftop.
We’re on it; catching up.
And one local example of a rooftop garden done well is Phoenix Rooftop.
It sits atop a 30 storey CBD building in Melbourne, Australia.
Designed by BENT Architecture for two down-sizing professionals, this roof garden allowed them to stay connected with landscape and green space as they transitioned from living in leafy suburbia to Melbourne’s CBD.
For green-thumb down-sizers transitioning from large and leafy suburban lots to compact CBD apartments, the move can be wrenching.
In this case, the down-sizing clients wanted their rooftop garden to provide functional areas akin to a typical suburban garden.
So BENT Architecture divided the site into three distinct, yet connected zones.
- One was for standing; cocktail in hand, raising a toast to the sunset.
- Another was for sitting; book over your face in the sun.
- And the third was for outdoor eating; BBQing a meal for family and friends under the stars.
Raised garden beds, filled with fragrant and flowering plants, define each zone, working hard to operate as both balustrade and wind break.
The coloured tiles that adorn them – green, white, yellow and blue – are an abstraction of the garden itself.
BENT Architecture cleverly introduced a sculptural steel arbour.
Handsome and strong, it supports a canopy of creeper, shielding and protecting the garden and its occupants.
The canopy responds to each zone’s specific need for privacy, sunlight, and protection from the wind and rain.
Despite the obvious charms and benefits of projects like the Phoenix Rooftop, rooftop gardens are still rare and an experimental science in Australia.
That means they are not without risk and potential complications.
And no more so than here, at 30 storeys high, in one of Melbourne’s most exposed sites.
But the Phoenix Rooftop is travelling well.
And that’s just as well because this garden is very much on show, visible to thousands of office-workers every day.
It’s a magnificent sight that nourishes many.
It’s a billboard for environmental sustainability too.
And the message is, ‘our buildings can be greener’.
For BENT Architecture, creating functional, beautiful, and livable rooftop gardens just makes sense.
Project Details
Project size – 45 m2
Site size – 45 m2
Completion date – 2017
Building levels – 1
Project Team
Architecture
BENT Architecture
BENT Architecture is an innovative design practice based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.
The practice is led by Directors Paul and Merran Porjazoski.
Horticultural Consultant
Infinite Landscape
Infinite Landscape are based in Melbourne.
Construction
MRU Construction
MRU offer an alternative construction experience to the usual stressful process.
Structural Engineering
Clive Steele Partners
Clive Steele Partners is a specialist firm of Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers based in Melbourne with representation in both Sydney & Brisbane.
The firm was established in Melbourne in 1924 as the Professional Engineering Practice of Major General Sir Clive Steele.
Since then, it has worked continuously in the fields of structural and civil engineering design creating a unique reservoir of knowledge and experience.
Extensive involvement with large multi-national corporations on industrial projects has been a major focus of the firm’s practice for many years.
Photography
Dianna Snape
Dianna Snape is an Australian architectural photographer based in Melbourne. She specializes in interior, landscape, and architectural photography.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2020 BENT Architecture. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2020 Dianna Snape. All Rights Reserved.
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