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To learn more, visit Growing Up – The Blueprint to Green-Roof Melbourne here and read about the 2010 Melbourne Design Award for Commercial Architecture Design here, where you can also see the long list of the entire Project Team. Also, see the video “The start of GREEN ROOFS in Melbourne” from KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions here and read the Sky Gardens Blog post by Linda Velazquez of May 4, 2011 GPW: Growing Up (131 Queen Street). Learn about Elmich Pte Ltd in The Greenroof Directory. Contact the following companies: BENT Architecture at www.bentarchitecture.com.au/; Green Roof Technologies at http://www.greenrooftech.com.au/; Debco at http://www.debco.com.au/; and We Blow at http://www.weblow.com.au/.

“Melbourne?s skyline is now a little greener with the completion of the world?s first fully-funded, competition-designed, retrofitted green roof. Located atop 131 Queen Street, Melbourne, ?Growing Up? is an initiative of eight young business leaders taking part in the Committee for Melbourne?s Future Focus Group and demonstrates the environmental and social benefits of green roofs on city buildings,” (Melbourne Design Awards, 2010).

City rooftops are ripe to be transformed into vibrant green spaces. To kick off the process in Melbourne, the city council’s Committee for Melbourne has supported the new Growing Up project, launched to retrofit a green roof to a CBD (Central Business District) building.

BENT Architecture won the design competition established for the project, and the 10-storey office building at 131 Queen Street was chosen as a site? the furthest nominated location from any green space in the CBD. KHD Landscape Engineering Solutions and Green Roof Technologies have been involved in creating the green space as part of the $300,000 project, and are now working together to provide end-to-end design, construction and maintenance services for green roofs.

Green roofs can increase biodiversity and air quality, in addition to saving building owners on cooling costs and acting as a natural water-treatment facility that reduces stormwater flow. They also improve cityscape aesthetics by creating rooftop oases in the midst of the concrete jungle. Products used include:

* Waterproofing – using the Enviro HP 1200 dual component, spray applied, rapid cure polyurethane and installed by Polyseal.
* Drainage Cell ? Elmich Versicell supplied and installed by KHD
* Soil containment ? Elmich Versiweb supplied and installed by KHD
* Soil blown by We Blow
* Growing media ? Debco Premium growing media.
* Raised Timber Garden beds – installed using recycled timber by Better Projects.

The landscaped garden hill is made of recycled expanded polystyrene covered with a 200 millimetre-thick growing media and green roof plants. “?Growing Up? is home to over 1300 predominantly indigenous, drought-tolerant plants. The planting substrate has been formulated specifically for rooftop conditions, and the majority of plants have had proven success in such environs. University of Melbourne scientists assisted with the plant and soil selection based on their previous research into green roofs…A garden oasis within the city, ?Growing Up? has drawn upon considerable financial and in-kind industry support to become a best-practice example of how public and private organisations can partner with industry, business and research institutions to create innovative solutions to combat climate change,” (Melbourne Design Awards, 2010). The Growing Up (131 Queen Street) project was completed in June, 2010 and won the Melbourne Design Award for Commercial Architecture for 2010.

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