On our large-scale apartment building developments – including Victoria Central in Southend-on-Sea, Abbey Quay in Barking and Lorimer Village in Goodmayes – we have designed all the buildings with green roofs and brown roofs.
A green roof is a waterproofed roof partially or completely covered with vegetation and a brown roof is where the substrate surface is left to self-vegetate from windblown and bird lime seed dispersal. Both offer superior drainage alongside supporting local plant and bird life.
Green roofs play a significant part in improving the quality of urban life. They make buildings more thermally efficient, prolong the life of a roof, improve the extremes of temperature and humidity, moderate surface water run-off, help to reduce air pollution and noise and provide greenspace for people and wildlife. In addition, the vegetation that green roofs provide within an urban setting may have psychological benefits for people who overlook them.
Brown roofs are intended to increase biodiversity, provide a habitat for native plants, and support native insects that may be suffering in an urban environment. Brown roofs are often seen as more rugged and more natural.
Where allowed through planning, Weston Homes designs apartment buildings to have raised podiums which are topped with landscaped gardens, with parking or ground level commercial or communal space below, to maximise the amount of green open space and planting at the developments.
