In tight urban environments there are many under-utilized opportunities to create oases that provide not only aesthetic relief but also practical benefits to the buildings and the environment. These are roofs of city buildings. They are referred to as green roofs, living roofs, rooftop gardens, and urban oases. WH Canon Landscape Company has extensive experience in changing the “roof-scapes” of many buildings over the past 22-years.

We have abundant experience with green roofs and roof gardens. We can transform impervious areas on building roofs into green spaces successfully on budget, on time. We can turn the wasted space on rooftops into an ornamental garden, or an outdoor living room, or a green space that benefits native ecosystems and mediates urban heat island effects.

Project Profiles

Ford Rouge Center

  • Main characteristic of the project: Green roof
  • Challenges of the project: One of the world’s largest green roofs. The intent was to turn the grey industrial wasteland into native ecosystems.
  • How we made it work: WH Canon Landscape Company was a fully integrated member of the design and construction team.

 

Ann Arbor City Apartments

  • Main characteristic of the project: Green roof
  • Challenges of the project: A very difficult project in tight, highly trafficked site that resulted in two beautiful rooftops.
  • How we made it work: Managed crane lift operations to place the material where needed. 

 

Alfred Taubman Student Center-Lawrence Technological University

  • Main characteristic of the project: Green roof
  • Challenges of the project: Used innovative green roof technologies with lightweight soil and sedum plugs. Included large bio-swales to capture and filter storm water.
  • How we made it work: WH Canon Landscape Company had close cooperation with the designers to define the what and the how of the project execution. 

 

C.S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital-University of Michigan

  • Main characteristic of the project: Green roof
  • Challenges of the project: Five acres of green roof containing 900 cubic yards of growing medium.
  • How we made it work: The project required high output production planning and execution to install five acres of plant material. WH Canon worked closely with the designers for the choice of plant material appropriate for the harsh site conditions. Large expanse transformed from an impervious heat sink into environmentally friendly green spaces.