Whāngārei Living Roof Guide
This guide provides an opportunity to champion living roofs to home-owners, developers and the broader design fraternity alike.
Sector: Public
Services: Landscape & Urban
The Whāngārei Living Roof guide provides advice and technical information relevant to New Zealand and in particular, the Whāngārei context, for the implementation of living roof systems.
Despite a long history of sod roof use, the modern building industry has only recently seen a resurgence of living roof technology and this rediscovery offers a myriad of exciting benefits for people, our built form and nature.
Talk of living roofs, particularly on commercial buildings in New Zealand, is however in its infancy and is often met with scepticism in terms of its potential as a realistic building option with long term contributions to urban habitat, stormwater and sustainable building outcomes.
This guide developed by 4Sight provides an opportunity to champion this sustainable technology to home-owners, developers and the broader design fraternity as a viable option for the New Zealand environment.
4Sight provided landscape architecture and living roof expertise alongside botanical, ecological and urban design skills in developing New Zealand’s first comprehensive living roof guide.
Our role included researching, writing, designing and illustrating the guide as well as undertaking the graphic design and desktop publishing for the document.
Our contribution did not stop at the publishing of the guide – we are working with Whāngārei District Council to communicate the message through public workshops and online content and forums.
Many of the barriers to greater use of this roofing approach in New Zealand are based around lack of locally applicable information, research and shared experiences. This guide is a first step in sharing the growing knowledge base and range of case studies within New Zealand that are now assisting to break down these barriers and providing exciting sustainable building opportunities.
Check out the e-version of the guide below.