Woods Bagot, in collaboration with St Canice’s and PEPO
Botanic Design, has completed the design of a new community rooftop garden in
Sydney.
Run by Rob Caslick and the Catholic Parish of St Canice, the
edible rooftop garden was created to give people on bridging visas the
opportunity to participate in something meaningful.
It is located at St Canice’s Kings Cross, and features a new
rooftop awning and barbeque area integrated with garden beds. The position of
the awning was designed to maintain views to the church over which the rooftop
looks, while a modular scheme creates a versatile, flexible space for communal
gatherings and social events.
Recycled paper and cardboard was used for the ‘no dig’
garden beds, and the pergola is made of pipes donated by Built as scraps from
their construction sites.
“We are delighted to
lend our expertise for a great cause. Our global studio vision inspires us to look
beyond traditional practices and provoke a culture that embodies a sense of
responsibility and respect to our society, environment and people,” says
Georgia Singleton, Woods Bagot director and global section leader in education,
science and health.
“We see corporate social responsibility [CSR] as part of our
roles as designers, not separate from what we do.”
All Woods Bagot studios participate in CSR, which spans pro
bono design work to incorporating design concepts for humanity in their
projects.
A crowd-funding initiative raised more than $20,000 for the community
rooftop garden in just 10 days, enabling St Canice’s to hire four people
seeking asylum in the process.
Collaborators:
- PEPO Botanic Design - landscape designer
- Built - construction management
- Arup - structural engineer
- Medland Metropolis – engineers
- City of Sydney - matching grant
- Superlight - LED lighting
- Elmich - landscape supplies
- Tankworks - rainwater tank
- BarkBlower - garden soil
- Alpine - garden plants
- Greenstaff - employment Agency
