Wildflower Turf and Green Roofs

When you hear the words Hilton Hotel you tend to visualise something contemporary and grand.  The newly completed Hilton at Reading continues to live up to that expectation and at the same time has acquired some green credentials.

There’s nothing more boring  than looking out of a hotel window at a grey tarmac rooftop.  It is certainly less than ideal and definitely not inspiring.  At the recently completed Hilton the words boring and uninspiring don’t form part of the equation. Boasting a flat roof several meters above ground level, guests are treated to a spectacular vision of glorious wildflowers and sapling trees.  Irrigated from beneath, it stays beautifully green the whole year round, whilst producing a succession of flowers attracting birds, butterflies, bees and hoverflies throughout the summer.

When we were asked to supply our Wildflower Meadow Turf for this project we were delighted. So many modern hotels fail to exploit the opportunity to blend in with the surrounding landscape whilst at the same time making a statement.  We  think you’ll agree that the wildlfower meadow roof at the new Hilton Hotel certainly ticks both those boxes.

Wildflower Meadow on the roof at the Hilton Hotel Reading

Harking back to a time when building materials were sourced from the surrounding countryside, when keeps and castles were built to be impressive and stood proud against the sky line with hoards of soldiers to guard their walls, Cardiff Castle is no exception to that rule.

Relating the extraordinary episodes in the history of the castle , the new Interpretation Centre, is displaying its own extraordinary event – a new green roof of beautiful wildflowers.

When we were first approached by David Hopkins of Cardiff County Council and asked for a quote early in 2009, we were quite surprised as the centre already had a green roof albeit one of sedum.  However, it seemed all was not well with the sedum and they wanted something more spectacular and self sustaining.

By April the turf was on the roof complete with irrigation system.  The photos below show you the steep gradient on the Interpretation Centre, upon which the turfs were laid.  By June visitors were greeted by an army of wildflowers – a little different from the armies that would have been in residence in Roman times.

The first wave of flowers is generally led by the Campions; White (Silene latifolia), Red (Silene dioica), Bladder (Silene vulgaris) and Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), preceded by Meadow Buttercups (Ranunculus acris) and Wild Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) then closely followed by surges of Cats Ear (Hypochoeris radicata), Hawkbit (Leontodon sp.) Vetch (Vicia sp.), Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) and Ox-eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) to name a few.  Not to be outdone either, and bringing up the rear are the grasses with spears of flowers standing straight and tall above the rest.  An army to be reckoned with!  So no change there!

Just click on each image to enlarge – enjoy!

Laying laying the wildflower turf on the steep roof

27th April 2009 Turf all laid and looking lush

29 June 2009 already flowering

The First Wave led by an army of Campions

Last Autumn we were delighted to be approached by Architects HPW Partnership, concerning a new themed area at Paultons Park in Hampshire.  Peppa Pig World is due to open at Easter 2011.  As part of this project there is a “12,000sq ft indoor play area providing a brand new space for visitors to take cover on wet days, and the largest Peppa Pig dedicated shop in the country”!  HPW had specified a green roof and recommended Wild Flower Roof Turf. Paultons Park had used our turf in the past and were keen to go with our system.

Owner and Managing Director of Paultons Park, Richard Mancey and project manager Keith Ashley, met up with James Hewetson-Brown to talk through this exciting new project, and to discuss how the proposed green roof could be tackled. As contractors BBS Green Roofing had been selected to install the turf and the overall construction of such a huge project needed to be carefully managed.This was very successfully executed by Steve Vincent who has 15 years experience is this very bio-diverse trade.

Three weeks ago this phase of the new building was successfully completed.  First to be installed was our high quality substrate that gives the wildflower roots something to knit into and thrive on, then an automated irrigation system and finally, the wildflower turf was duly laid on the roof.

Having received a few pictures from BBS and the architects after the wildflower turf was laid, James couldn’t resist visiting the site today and taking a few pictures of his own.  We think you will really like these and by Easter when this area opens it is going to look amazing.

Pepper Pigs New Green Roof

…. this time in Scotland for R B Ross Steel Fabrictions Ltd in Dyce. I will see about getting a few more pictures later in the year as I think this will look stunning when the wild flowers come through in the spring.

580m² Green Roof laid on 26.2.09

June 09 update.

Green Roof in flower 02.06.09

Many thanks to Tony for sending in this update from R B Ross and a comment from his email …

” We are on the helicopter flight path from the North Sea rigs to Aberdeen airport so we have been informed that the R.B.Ross logo is still visible. When the North Sea Tigers see the logo they know its only 15 minutes until they have a pint in their hand at the Spiders Web Pub”

A concern with this Isle of Wight project is the proximity of the turf to the sea. The client decided that the roof of the house would protect the turf from the worst of the weather and he would see how well it coped before trying it on the front of the house. There are 25 varieties of flowers in the turf as well as 4 varieties of grass. The grasses are mainly fescues and these are reasonably salt tolerant anyway. The number of flowers and the fact that most of them are quite hardy will mean that a number will survive and thrive. By introducing so many varieties some will do well in some conditions/soil types etc and others will do well in different conditions. As well as this the client is going to experiment by adding some local plant seeds to the turf and see if they estabish over the next few years.

Partially completed Wild Flower Turf roof on the Isle of Wight