Graz, Austria

Red and Green Roofs

View toward the old town of Graz. Rising above the red roof tops is Schlossberg and in the foreground are 3 extensive green roofs.

Graz Rooftops as viewed from Schlossberg

UNESCO listed in 1999 as a World Cultural Heritage site, Graz is recognised for its well preserved old town featuring a harmonious mix of different architectural styles. Rising over 100 metres above the Romanesque, Gothic, Rennaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings is Schlossberg (Castle Mountain). As the name suggests Schlossberg was once a well fortified castle due to its location on top of the hill. Today the hill is a green public park with cafes, restaurants and concert venue set amongst the remains of the fortress. Standing triumphantly on the southern edge of Schlossberg, overlooking the old town, is a Graz icon, the Uhrturm (Clocktower). The base of the Uhrturm is a great vantage point to take in another of the city's iconic sights; a sea of red terra-cotta roof tops.

Graz from the air. Green areas of Schlossberg, the Stadt Park and the private inner courtyards.

Appearing tightly built with very little green space, many buildings in (and surrounding) the old town actually have a surprising feature; Inner courtyards (some larger than others) which are lush and green provide a calming oasis for residents and building users. These areas importantly support animal habitat and are vital for biodiversity. It is clear that throughout the different architectural ages and styles, some degree of thought was put into incorporating green space in a buildings construction. 

Today Graz continues to place importance on maintaining and incorporating green space in the construction process. Multiple examples around the city show there is strong emphasis on building green roofs, maintaining green permeable areas, and incorporating flora on terraces and walls.

In residential apartment buildings it is common practice for the entrances of underground carparks to have extensive green roofs. While often the underground carparks themselves are covered by an intensive green roof; thus creating a green inner courtyard or green backyard. Bike garages and storage sheds are covered with vegetation, and small insect hotels are common place in courtyards.

For a great video showing many of the old buildings of Graz visit the official Graz tourist homepage http://www.graztourismus.at/en

  

Barcelona, Spain

Green to be seen

Peix Sculpture viewed over a domed green roof at Olympic Marina, Barcelona

When you think of colours synomomous with Barcelona you instantly think red and yellow or red and blue. The proud Catalonian history and passionate support for a successful football team bring these colours to the forefront of the mind. It is one of the worlds most colourful, culturally rich cities. An estimated 8 million tourists visit Barcelona every year. It is famous for Gothic and Modernista architecture with numerous buildings named by UNESCO as World Hertitage Sites.

Stop for a moment to view Barcelona from a green perspective... Green spaces constructed by man blend harmoniously into the city landscape... Green Roofs of different sizes, uses and appearances are scattered throughout Barcelona.

Plaça de Catalunya, Private Residence

In a town where only the most diverse stand out amongst the crowd, it can take a lot to get noticed. Appearing as an oasis in a desert of endless rooftops this lush, green roof terrace certainly catches the eye from every possible angle. The small but very special green space seemingly sprouts skywards from the top of the building, 16 stories above one of Barcelona's busiest and most iconic squares.

Comprising of a densely vegetated green roof and a number of lush green walls the private roof terrace is certainly something special.

Parc del Forum

Parc del Forum is located 6km north-east of the centre of Barcelona. The area is directly on the Mediterranean Ocean and has numerous uses. At sea level it is harbour for smaller vessels, above is the man made 'park' which serves as a multi purpose entertainment precinct. Constructed for the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures the area which sits on reclaimed land is more of a cultural park, rather than a traditional, vegetated, green park. However there are grassed areas, which essentially are green roofs above the boat building yards below. The area also has a gigantic photovalatic cell, which symbolizes Barcelona's endevour to become more a more sustainable city.

Alella Bicycle Parking

20km north-east of Barcelona the small, historic town of Alella has a public, modern green roof installation. A lockable bike garage at a bus interchange is covered by substrate and a thick healty, sedum. The vegetated roof is only 15 metres long, and about 1.2 metres wide but in this high profile location it catches the eye of those passing by. Raising the question, 'What else can be made into a green roof?'

More Green Roofs from around Barcelona

Other public green roofs across Barcelona include the Design Museum at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, Biblioteca (Library) Zona Nord located in the hilly northern suburbs of Barcelona, and the Olympic and Sports Museum located on Montjuïc hill. 

For further information about green Barcelona (including Parc del Forum) visit the official Barcelona Tourism website- http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/page/79/parks.html

Côte d'Azur, France

A naturally beautiful coastline at times overoared by concrete and steel monstosities. A softener amongst the layers upon layers of hotels and apartments are glimpses of green spaces on roof tops and terraces. Green spaces created by man such as green roofs, walls and purpose built terrace gardens effectively reclaim the green space which was taken in the construction process. 

Monaco/ Monte Carlo

Villeneuve- Loubet

Malmö, Sweden

Turning Green!

Turning Torso, Western Harbour, Malmö

Turning an industry dominated town in financial crisis into a healthy, sustainable, smart city of the future...

Swedens 3rd largest city; Malmö shows the rest of the world just how it's done.

In the mid 1990's Malmö City council made an extremely significant descion to take action as the failing industrial economy was crippling the city. Industry shut down rendered large areas of the city unuseable and previously wealthy suburbs had become derelict. To fix this, a descion was made to transform Malmö into a modern, sustainable city with a knowledge based economy. 

One way Malmö acheived (continues to acheive) this transformation was to turn failing areas of the city into sustainable, smart suburbs. 2 differing examples are; the refurbished Augustenborg 'Eco City' and the newly created residential area of Western Harbour.

The city implemented 2 simple policies which force devlopers to include bio-diverse, useable green space in new residential construction. The results are having a substantial affect on both environmental and living standards in Western Harbour.

 

Augustenborg 'Eco City'

The Augustenborg Eco City is essentially a large scale refurbishment of an ageing 1950's suburb. The area which, in more prosporous times, housed local industry workers was becoming run down and unappealing. The many 4-8 story council owned apartment buildings were extremely cold in winter and highly energy inefficient. To add to this the area often suffered severe damaged caused by major flooding.

Malmö city council saw and acted on the need upgrade this area into a more livable, more environmentally friendly suburb. Several projects were implemtated from the late 1990's into the 2000's  to acheive the 'Eco City'.  This included the upgrade of existing apartment buildings. The buildings were made more thermally efficient by simply adding insulation, then an extra layer of cladding on the outside of the building, as well as replacing the old windows with new.

To negate the flooding a new open storm water system was installed, more green permeable spaces created, and over 10 000m2 of green roofs installed for water retention .

Currently in construction, Greenhouse Augustenborg signals the next phase in the continued resurgence of the Augustenborg Eco City; intergration of new sustainable construction. Amongst other sustainable features the 14 story residential apartment building boasts balconies with individual climate controlled cultivation areas, and a communal roof top green house. View the official Greenhouse Augustenborg video

 

Västra Hamnen (Western Harbour)

1km north-west from the centre of Malmö, on the Öresund Sound an amazing transformation continues to take place. What was a contaminated, disused shipping yard is becoming a thriving, green suburb of knowledge and sustainable living. Western Harbour hosted the 2001 European Housing Expo. The expo kick-started the sustainable urban development called 'Bo01'.

'Bo01' laid out the initial quality standards for construction within the development area. The guidelines which are enforced in Western Harbour today follow those ideals. Lately the focus has been on four aspects of sustainability, including high quality architecture, social sustainability, economic sustainability and ecological sustainability. They allow for creative and individual design, while supporting the common goal to create dwellings with significantly low energy consumption. Thus leading to a sustainable urban development with character and flair.

The most interesting urban planning strategy to come from 'Bo01', which will surely have a long lasting legacy is the Green Space Factor. The Green Space Factor is a policy used by the city of Malmö to ensure a certain amount of green area is included in the design of new residential buildings. The city of Malmö highly values the importance of green spaces in the urban environment, stating in it's general plan that, 'The aim is to contribute to good living conditions for humans, animals, and plants'. The Green Space Factor acknowledges courtyards as well as green roofs and walls as green spaces. According to the council, including these green areas in the construction will have numerous long term benefits- including improved local climate, noise reduction and reduced risk of flooding.

Added to the Green Space Factor is the Green Points program. Essentially the Green points program assists in making the newly created green spaces (which a developer must include in construction) more environmentally beneficial, or more beneficial for the residents. From a list of 35, the developer must select 10 'Green Points' . Examples from the list of Green Points include, 'Number 1- a bird box for every apartment', which supports increasing animal habitat. Or 'Number 4- No surfaces in courtyard are sealed', therefore increasing permeable area, leading to a decrease in flooding. Click to see entire Green Points list

The result is a truly, physically green urban development, providing numerous benefits to both environment and residents. The Green Space Factor and Green Points program are a terrific examples of successful urban greening policy.

Read more about the Green Space Factor and Green Points Program implemented at Western Harbour, as well as the case study on Augustenborg 'Eco City' at www.grabs-eu.org