Sustainable and reliable system solutions for green roofs

The future of our roofs is green, sustainable and livable. Roof gardens are rapidly gaining popularity. However, achieving an aesthetically high-quality and well-functioning roof garden is not easy. "In the design and implementation of a roof garden, many fields of expertise come together," explains Michiel van de Bunt of ZinCo Benelux. "Where an architect is responsible for the design, a structural engineer calculates the allowable weights. A roofer installs the roofing, while a landscaper provides the right plants. To coordinate these activities optimally, an intermediary with expertise is needed. ZinCo Benelux fulfills this role well and gladly."

ZinCo Benelux is a systems consultant and supplier of roof garden systems. "We are often involved in projects by architects and plan developers to translate their aesthetic design into a technically feasible and makeable system structure," says Van de Bunt. "From the drainage layers to the substrate, on which planting can be applied as desired. Towards implementation, we inform gardeners, roofing companies and contractor parties about the system, the required materials and the correct order of work."

ZinCo Benelux's expertise was recently requested at project Silversquare on Avenue Louise in Brussels. "On the parking basement of this building there had been a roof garden for years, on which no protective waterproofing layer had been applied. A pressure-resistant drainage system was missing and the wrong substrate had been used, resulting in several roof membrane perforations. Repair was impossible. Through an architect we appointed, a new plan for the roof garden was developed. We then handled the technical development of the design. On the basis of, among other things, the allowable bearing weight and waterproofing, we also supplied the 1,800 m² of appropriate protective mats, drainage strips and filter membranes and 827 m³ of substrate."    

BUILDING INFO

Architect: Cottenier & partners
Landscape Architect: DutchGreen
Contractor/roofing contractor: Derbigum Services Belgium
Gardener: Laurens Coenen Gardens
Systems consultant and supplier: ZinCo Benelux
Pressure-resistant drainage course: ZinCo Fixodrive® FX 50