Delft green...

As you may remember dear readers, I was one of a very lucky few who were whisked off to Delft last November for the wonderful EcoMind conferences where like minded individuals congregated on the Engineering and Design department of TU Delft for two days and investigated the advancements of eco technology and business. It was wonderful.

And now TU Delft has got another beautifully green feather to their well designed cap - a stunning green roof to the library.

It is well documented that the benefits of green roof systems are multi faceted - from increasing the local biodiversity to the extremely effective heat regulation of the building below. Water can be harvested and indeed, slowed right down, which aids the reduction in sudden flash flooding - a very large problem in cities where surfaces are not permeable.

Plus, they look wonderful, but most can only be appreciated from the bird's eye view, and this is also what is lovely about the TU Delft library roof - it is inclined so as to become an artificial hill in a land of flatness, and a meeting and recreation space for locals - something which can be rare for green roof systems generally.

And as well as being a fantastic example of an architectural feature which is yet to be fully explored, it would make a cracking snowboard jump...(add a few rails and I would be in heaven...)

(story and images via inhabitat)