By Linda S. Velazquez
Greenroofs.com Publisher

Whole Foods Lynnfield – MA
Lynnfield, MA, USA
17,000 sq. ft Greenroof

Project Description & Details

Whole Foods Market has always celebrated the difference natural and organic products can make in the quality of one’s life. Located at Market Street Lynnfield, Whole Foods Market is the anchor tenant, with Jacobs Consultants as Architect of Record. This is the first Whole Foods Market in the United States with a rooftop farm, providing an estimated 11,000 lbs of hyper-local produce per year which is then sold inside the store.

The award-winning food roof was designed and constructed by Recover Green Roofs, LLC and all locally sourced materials were used. Maintained by Green City Growers, they say “The produce we get is more nutrient dense and fresher than anything else available, because the distance between where it’s grown and where it’s being consumed is really as minimal as it can be.” The American Hydrotech Vegetable Garden Roof System was used with 10″ planting mounds of lightweight growing media laid in 3′ wide rows. The growing media is a Hydrotech LiteTop Urban Agriculture Media blended with Encendia Biochar. The plant varieties are determined in collaboration with the Whole Foods Lynnfield – MA produce department, and Green City Growers assembles a crop map by season. Set up in zones, from Rain Bird drip irrigation delivers water directly to the roots, minimizing waste. In 2016 Recover Green Roofs installed a hoop house to start from seed on site, which is currently growing kale. All produce from the food roof is grown using all organic farming methods and customers love the wide variety of the fresh, local produce of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers on the open air rooftop farm.

See the Project Profile and Find More Photos and Additional Information about this project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Year: 2013
Owner: Whole Foods Market
Location: Lynnfield, MA, USA
Building Type: Commercial
Type: Semi-Intensive, Test/Research
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 17000 sq.ft.
Slope: 3%
Access: Accessible, By Appointment

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Architect of Record: Jacobs Consultants, Inc.
Greenroof Consultant & Construction Oversight: Recover Green Roofs, LLC
Greenroof System: American Hydrotech Vegetable Garden Roof System
Irrigation Design and Construction: Recover Green Roofs, LLC
Planting and Maintenance: Green City Growers
General Contractor: Construction Management & Builders, Inc.
Plant Supplier: Red Fire Farm
Irrigation System: Rain Bird
Growing Media: Hydrotech LiteTop Urban Agriculture Media blended with Encendia Biochar
Growing Medium Supplier: Read Custom Soils

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Whole Foods Lynnfield – MA Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!

~ Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEEP AP, GRP