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Groundwork

01.3 / Ecology / Public

Aotea Meadow

A reserve held in the air.

Location
Auckland Central Core
Year
2023
Scope
3,400 m² Rooftop Sanctuary
Area
3,400 m²
Procedural site model — 36° / seed 88.1

High-density urban rooftop bio-reservoir and pollinator sanctuary suspended over transit nexus.

The brief

A 1990s office deck had 3,400 m² of unused roof sitting over the busiest bus interchange in the city, gaining 3°C in summer and shedding every drop of rain into the storm drain. The owner's brief was one word: green.

  1. Dense native grass matrix covering a rooftop above a rail platform
    01The matrix at 1,100 mm — deep enough to never need irrigation after establishment.
  2. Native fern and wetland specimens held for a rooftop trial
    02Forty-one species trialled on the loading bay before the roof was committed.
  3. Terraced planting beds stepping across a public plaza
    03The public seating terraces double as the reservoir's overflow edge.

[ Approach ]

Four phases on the ground

  1. 01

    Read the land

    There was no land, so we measured the light. Twelve months of logging on the neighbouring roof, plus a wind study, gave us the six hours of direct sun the planting palette actually needs.

  2. 02

    Sketch the possibilities

    A soil-based system was rejected on weight and cost. The selected section is a lightweight mineral matrix over a cellular reservoir that holds 42 litres per square metre and drains by gravity into the mains at a controlled rate.

  3. 03

    Grow the proposal

    Planting was composed in three depth bands so the meadow reads as landscape in section: low sedum at the parapet, mid grasses in the field, and a drift of tussock where the roof steps.

  4. 04

    Steward the delivery

    The seed mix was propagated off-site for two seasons and sown in a single week in late autumn. Establishment is now self-sustaining; the reserve team only mints twice a year.

Outcome

The roof runs 6–11°C cooler than the bare deck it replaced and holds the first 25 mm of every rainfall event on site. Pollinator counts across the interchange have more than tripled since the first summer.

Peak surface temp drop
−11 °C
Rainfall held on site
25 mm per event
Species
41 native, 9 non-native
Structural loading
612 kg/m² design

Materials

  • Expanded shale mineral matrix
  • Recycled-content cellular reservoir
  • Recycled aluminium capping detail
  • Sedum / tussock / herb meadow mix

Credits

  • Planting design — Maya Chen
  • Project architect — Callum Reid
  • Ecology review — Isla Vance
Client
Kāinga Property Holdings
Collaborators
Aurecon, Waka Kotahi Transport

Site model / plan

The model above is generated from this drawing's height field, which is shared between the shader and the CPU so planting lands exactly on the surface.

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