Green Roofs (and Brown Roofs and Green Walls) are a new way of making the built environment more sustainable, in that they provide habitat for wildlife in a space which would otherwise be bricks, concrete, tiles, or lead, by giving temperature and noise insulation,  reducing rapid water flow and flooding into our storm drains, and by absorbing CO2.  They can also offer a new gardening opportunity.

Islington is acquiring some green roofs, a few of which are shown below.   We have belatedly learnt of the green roof at Freightliners' Farm, Sheringham Road N7:

This is an open classroom which provides shelter for groups visiting the Farm when it is too hot or raining.  The structure is timber frame and cordwood construction, and was put up six years ago.  The roof has been left for nature to take over.

The next three roofs belong to an Islington Gardener, and the first of these can be replicated by anyone with a shed with little difficulty.   We await with interest the report on how these sedum roofs develop over their first summer and which insects, and possibly birds, they attract. 

The roof on the shed came from www.qlawns.co.uk and it arrives as a roll and the householder simply unrolls it and lays it in position.  The two on the flat roof extensions came from James Beattie, of London, www.green-roofing.co.uk

Islington Council have installed a green (possibly more brown) roof on their Municipal Offices at 222 Upper Street, N1, as shown below.  Part of the roof was retrofitted with an "extensive substrate biodiversity based green roof".  The roof substrate is a growing medium of mixed crushed brick, concrete, clay particles, sand and organic matter which has been used with varying depths of 40 -150 mm.  A pond liner was also used to create a small raised edge in the centre to act as a water reservoir.  The roof was seeded initially with a wildflower mix which gave a display of corncockles and cornflowers over the summer of 2007.  It is planned to install some standing rotten wood and plug plant some other wildlife friendly species as well as to allow areas to self-colonise in the following seasons.  The Council cite one of the benefits of a green roof as an extended roof life -  the waterproof membrane underneath it is protected from damage from UV rays; another benefit is the recycled nature of the materials used (the crushed porous brick etc) which would otherwise have gone to landfill.  

Islington Council are also experimenting with a green wall, at theChildren's Centre, Paradise Park, shown left.   The plants are a mixture, including euphorbias, bergenias, geraniums and grasses.  Unfortunately there have been teething problems with the watering system which have not been resolved as at February 2008.

Highbury Builders' Collective have an extensive section on green roofs on their website www.beehouse.org.uk and there is another selection of very grand green roofs at www.livingroofs.org.uk

We will be delighted to feature more Islington green roofs and walls so if anybody knows of one please email susan(at)lees.org.uk with details and if possible an electronic picture.   This is an area whose potentialities have not yet been fully explored in Islington.