Location: Calgary
Client: DIRTT Environmental
Construction date: 2016
Size: 300 sq. ft.
Construction: Studio T Design
Irrigation: Ion Irrigation
Services provided: Design, Construction, Maintenance 

a hiking trip in the Canadian rockies served as inspiration for an interior rooftop landscape within the mock-up warehouse of dirtt environmental solutions.

A Calgary-based interior construction company with strong environmental roots, DIRTT Environmental Solutions loves to push the design envelope —including up— and it created a truly unique green roof for an indoor timber frame structure in its Calgary headquarters.

A trip to Magog Meadows (the alpine meadows around Mt. Assiniboine, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains) was the inspiration for a series of sloping hexagonal cells that form a unique extensive green roof. Alberta-based Green T Design was contracted to create the essence of the alpine on an indoor, undulating roof with various slopes (some as steep as 6%), highlighting and showcasing the heavy timber structure.

An initial mixture of sedum mats with inserted native plug plants were used to emulate the low-growing herbs and perennial ground covers that characterize the alpine meadows. Grow lights on timers and an irrigation system help assist plant growth in an indoor environment. While DIRTT wanted a rooftop meadow, the initial plant palette gave way to more interior (tropical) plants that fit by shape, form and colour with the desired plant cover. The meadows consistently drew rave reviews from clients and visitors who tour the space.

The temporary installation has been decommissioned to make way for mock-ups. The pods have been relocated to Lord Shaughnessy High School, Canada’s Greenest School in 2016. It will be reconfigured to assist with green roof teaching.