Industrial-sized roof garden

The Schoren industrial site becomes the technology location uptownBasel. Prior to unsealing, which the master plan envisages wherever possible, the area will be heavily sealed for the long construction phase. So for the time being, the first new building stands alone on a wide expanse of asphalt. The roof garden design is geared to the current needs of the building’s users – but also to becoming part of the larger green space system of the overall site in the long term.

The planting forms a unique bioptope: the species spectrum ranges from local to climate-resistant global, from urban nature to garden culture. The design plays to the strengths of the elevated location in the valley, and it plays with views, horizons, dimensions, beautiful illusions and exciting irritations.

In the roof’s centre, between small hills and dense greenery, lies the terrace with its seating niches under parasols and pine crowns. Among fig leaves and fluffy pink albizia flowers, there is room for up to 100 people on special occasions. Visual axes allow for gazes out into the local recreational landscape of the Birstal. The trees on the roof seem to merge seamlessly into the forests further down, on solid ground.

Exotic climate trees and park shrubs such as acacia and ironwood tree stand next to native rock pear, pine or crab apple. Eye-catching garden grasses next to native species of the nearby Reinacher Heide nature reserve, making the roof an ecological stepping stone in the middle of the industrial area. A picturesque roofscape with a Mediterranean touch blends with a paradise for wild bees and other endangered species. One tenth of the roof is reserved for photovoltaics and is intended to make the building autonomous in terms of electricity supply.