Rooftop Play Terrain
St Francis of Assisi Primary School Project
Launched by Major General Peter Cosgrove on 28 May 05, the project was designed and presented by 5 Landscape Architecture students:
Ben Norman
Nadia Gilbert
Martin Pell
Jess Hodge
Drew Burgess
Aerial Site Analysis
Presentation Board
Rendered Plan
Presentation
Gardeners on the roof
Rooftop gardens are the new face of the urban landscape.
At Paddington’s St Francis of Assisi Primary School, big plans are afoot.
"We've decided to create a rooftop garden in a now empty space atop one of the buildings," assistant principal Maree Couani said.
"We believe that this is a positive step in the right direction and one which will benefit both the children and the staff."
The school's location means that until now most students have had little or no opportunity to experience gardens and the growth cycles of plants in a garden context.
"It's such an opportunity for another green space for the children and for the inner city," she said.
"The kids can get hands-on experience with planting and seeing things grow."
Rooftop gardens have been around since ancient times, but their growing popularity today can be attributed to the many benefits they offer in an urban environment.
Eco-journalist Geoff Wilson, director of the Urban Agriculture Network-Western Pacific, said that rooftop gardens "harvest up to 95 per cent of rainwater for plants, reduce the heat-island effects of cities (and thus help combat global warming), increase the life of commercial roofs, take up air particulates that are dangerous to humans, and are great for summertime recreation."
Following an initial consultation with Eco Living Centre, St Francis of Assisi school engaged a design team from the University of NSW to come up with a practical plan to develop a rooftop garden.
With the help of the school's students, the rooftop gardening committee (made up of interested parents who are builders, architects and designers), Eco Living Centre, and the UNSW design team, a great plan finally materialised for the 435-square-metre rooftop.
"We see the garden offering many advantages," Mrs Couani said.
"The primary children will be able to learn about ecology and environmental issues, and the garden will also be ideal for passive games such as giant chess, chequers and hopscotch. The area will also provide a quiet space for reflection and meditation and for social occasions for the whole school community.
"When children have their birthdays, they can just bring their birthday cake and go up to the rooftop," she said.
Mrs Couani said she felt that it was important to understand what the students wanted from the project and she had asked them for their ideas for the school's renovated rooftop.
"One of them said, 'We'd really like to grow different vegetables and maybe give them to the homeless,'" she said.
Report
Christine Paul & Diana Khezeqia
Wentworth Courier, September 7
+61 2 9385 4799
