Retrofit Brown Roof With Disabled Access - Toxteth, Liverpool, UK.

Toxteth brown roof during construction. Client: Toxteth TV, Liverpool

Roof size: 150m²

Installation Date: June 2009

Location: John Archer Hall, Windsor Road, Toxteth, Liverpool.

Brief: The creation of a biodiverse roof retrofit on a Victorian building to meet BREEAM standard with particular attention to the encouragement of local flora re-establishment with seeds supplied from the National Wildflower Centre in Merseyside. Biodiversity benchmark audit and certification from Wildlife Trust.

Brown Roof Build-Up :

Primary waterproofing system with root barrier
Oldroyd separation fleece
Oldroyd Xv 20 Green Xtra perforated drainage and water reservoir (min. 49% recycled)
Oldroyd geotextile filter fleece
50-150mm of substrate to encourage varied flora establishment.
Pebbled vegetation breaks around all perimeters

Brown Roof Substrate / Features

1 x ephemeral rain water pool, 1 x rain water pool fed via a gutter and downpipe from rain water run off from higher roof elevations, sand pebble mounds crushed brick piles, split logs areas and small decaying tree branches with mosses and lichens already resident. Bat boxes and bird boxes will also be installed in a sheltered area off the main roof. Disabled access which runs the full length of the roof to encourage group viewing and education.

Crushed brick- 100% recycled (Peterborough)
Formulated soil - 85% recycled
Split logs and branches -100% recycled from sustainable forests and woods (Liverpool)
Seeds from National Wildfower Centre
English rounded pebbles (as opposed to Scottish Caledonian) 100%
Iron sand from Leighton Buzzard (Bedfordshire)
Stone materials sourced from English quarries / rivers where applicable

All materials used to construct the brown roof were sourced with the following criteria:

A high level of recyclability
Low carbon footprint
Sustainable supplies
To encourage establishment of indigenous plants to the local area

The Location (Toxteth TV, Liverpool)


Brown Roof During and After Installation







Picture Credits We would like to thank Nick Roche of Mersey Forest (www.merseyforest.co.uk) for providing the photographs used in this case study. Mersey Forest is a not-for-profit partnership providing environmental (mostly tree-related) advice and various services in Merseyside and North Cheshire. Brown Roof Case Studies Brown Roof on Industrial Storage Unit (Barking, London) Biodiverse Roof (Hackney, London) Retrofit Brown Roof Incorporating Insulation Board (Tower Hamlets, London) Retrofit Brown Roof With Disabled Acces (Toxteth, Liverpool)