City Hall roof terrace garden with “Wateroof”

Alongside various partners of Urbagri, we took part in an unprecedented urban agriculture project set up on an artificial water table on the roof terrace garden of a building in the City of Paris.
Toiture terrasse transforme e en jardin potager

A rooftop vegetable garden on an artificial water table

“Wateroof” solution at the service of a comprehensive water management system

The challenge

In this project, the challenge was a flat roof with a surface area of almost 1,000 m², that had originally been sealed with a double-layer of self-protecting, bituminous waterproofing. This roof, which housed various items of technical equipment and two glazed roofing units in the centre, was now going to accommodate an edible garden. Composed of vegetable plots and a vine, the garden was going to be built on top of an artificial water table, created by building a system for collecting and storing rain water.

Within the framework of the City of Paris’ updated Climate Plan, the City of Paris’ “Livre Bleu” (blue book on water policies) and the City of Paris’ Biodiversity plan, the aim behind the City Hall Vegetable Garden was to:

  • Actively fight against the climatic phenomenon of heat islands

  • Reduce the degradation of air quality

  • Manage rainwater to reduce road runoff and mitigate heavy rainfall

  • Provide biodiversity solutions by creating links incorporated into the city’s green belts and ecological systems

  • Optimize the use of surface areas by turning an inaccessible roof into a productive vegetable garden

Jump to section

The solution

To tackle the site’s technical challenges while respecting the general contractors’ objectives, our suggestion was to install the following products on top of a new reinforced waterproofing system, adapted to the vegetation: Parafor Jardin Silver - from our range of Geoflow geotextiles, on top of which we could then install our Nidaroof honeycomb-shaped panels to contain the substrates and plants.

The water table could then be put to good use across the entire roof surface, making it possible to store large volumes of rainwater which could then be used to water the plants via textile fabrics with a high capillary action. This avoided the use of an electric pump.

The advantage of this solution was also to help humidify the air in periods of hot weather, and therefore to fight against the heat island effect, in particular through the “evapotranspiration” of plants and the evaporation of water from the substrate and the water table.

Roof terrace transformed into a vegetable garden | 1 year later

Roof terrace transformed into a vegetable garden | 1 year later

Roof terrace transformed into a vegetable garden | See the various stages of transformation

Roof terrace transformed into a vegetable garden | See the various stages of transformation

Project Highlights

Project Highlights

  • General contractor: Couvertex

  • Waterproofing companies: Siplast, Urbagri, Nidaplast and Loiseleur

  • Surface area: 1,000 m²

  • Site dates: 19 July to 18 October 2016

  • Products used: Geoflow 44-1F geotextile, Nidaroof honeycomb-shaped panels, Siplast Primer impregnation coating, Parafor Jardin Silver SBS bitumen sheet, treated with a root repellent.

Toiture terrasse transforme e en jardin potager

Read our articles

Green roof environmental benefits

This is how roofing can become the system of integration and transition between the current sign and the environment. The construction of the extensive green roof for the new Kronhotel building clearly brings to light one of the central issues debated during the design process: how to reconcile contemporary needs without forgetting where you are?

bmi-oesterreich-autohaus-hinterbauer-header

Autohaus Hinterbauer is an exclusive service provider for the sale of modern small and medium-sized cars, as well as vehicles in the higher price segment. A premium package from BMI was selected for the waterproofing of the new state-of-the-art building with waterproofing membranes.

Cuberta plana Ikea Zaragoza
creative solution for city of culture

Built to celebrate the city’s artistic heritage, FRAC Marseille’s iconic design required a highly technical roof system.

Contact Us

Contact our local team
We can support you to define solutions and services for specific country.

Find and contact our local team

Media Contact
Contact us for more information on BMI Group
group.communications@bmigroup.com

Contact Us

Discover more

BMI Italia Coperture Tetti Verdi Giardino
Discover
Cover Where we operate

We seek to be a partner without borders able to implement roofing designs and projects in the main areas worldwide.

Discover
Roofs that elevate

BMI understands the true value the right roof can bring. Not just for buildings. But for modern businesses. From innovative materials that are both sustainable and easily maintainable, to design unlocking the potential of property’s most under-used space, read on to discover how a BMI roof can improve your bottom line.

Discover
Roofing Training Locations

Whatever your project, our innovative and imaginative solutions can help to redefine the possibilities for your roof.

Discover

Our Group

Our Solutions

Case Studies

Our Blog

Find us on