Urban Roof Gardens have captured the imagination of the general public in a big way this year. Roof Gardens really are ‘the new rock and roll’. I caught up with John Rice co-founder of Urban Roof Gardens Ltd, the London based multi-disiplinary team of architects, engineers, designers, landscapers and builders who solely focus on all aspects of roof gardens, earlier this week to see what they had in store for us this summer.
“Well we are doing some great projects around town this year, though we try to fend off enquiries from further a field, calls come in from right across the UK. We even get strong interest from the States, especially New York where roof gardens are the ultimate status symbol for both Hotelier & city dweller.”
‘What are the things that you feel may set the trends for design led roof garden fans over the coming months!’
“Water is going to be a major factor in some of our more avant garde designs this summer, we will even feature coi carp ponds, height adjusting jet water fountains that colour change, and floating platforms for dining and entertaining.
“Also we are, in collaboration with Twiga UK Ltd, going to be offering our clients custom built glazed roof spaces for people to enjoy wonderfull views all year round. These could be used for sleeping, entertaining or even as a home office space for the growing army of home executives that now take full use of the higher internet speeds and intranet systems like our very own in house developed www.invue.com, which all our staff use religiously each and every day”.
‘Are developers keen to beautify their developments with roof terraces and shared access roof gardens!’
“We have observed over the past eighteen months that developers have even re-submitted plans to add roof terraces to their existing plans, thus adding that extra wow factor to their already innovative developments. A good example of this was One West India Quay in Docklands which is now the tallest residential tower block in the UK with thirty stories and five three storey penthouses with amazing north facing roof terrace spaces that look right out over great swaves of the east end of London.
‘Are roof gardens a new thing for houses and apartments in towns and cities or has it all been done before!’
“Towards the latter part of the 19thc and early part of the 20thc they were all the rage. My favorite at present is the Stockton Hotel in California, USA. It was built in 1910 and is currently nearing the completion of its complete restoration. It featured a 100ft x 100ft roof garden in a classical style”.
“Then of course in London we have the Kensington Roof Gardens finished in 1937 built above Derry & Toms, now Barkers of Kensington. They are owned by the Virgin Group. A rather scruffy Richard Branson famously got turned away at the door in the early 1980’s, only to return a week or so later to inform the doorman that he had bought The Kensington Roof Gardens and that the doorman would now be working for him”.
“Also, my adoptive mother used to go to its tea rooms during the Blitz in World War Two”. Its flamingos also featured then as the resident birds!”
‘Thanks John for taking the time out to talk and I wish you and your team all the best for the future with your truly amazing business’.
www.urbanroofgardens.com
tel: 0800 652 8848
By Joss Barns
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