Roof Gardens
When we speak of a roof garden, we refer to an open-air space designed for daily living, holding the same dignity and function as the land surrounding a home.
This is a theme central to our vision, as this definition often conceals technical complexities and cultural misconceptions.
The Anglo-Saxon world—and beyond—long ago understood the vital importance of livable space outside the domestic walls, even with a climate far less favorable than the Mediterranean one.
This awareness reveals the true value of outdoor living, placing it on the same level as indoor design in terms of importance and investment.
Fully grasping the potential of a well-designed outdoor space shifts the investment strategy, redefining the scale of values and priorities.
Our dual role in Italy is, therefore, first to guide clients regarding the possibilities of their external space—whatever it may be—and then to create the utmost beauty possible within the available resources.
As landscape designers, we have a duty to create spaces suitable for everyday life, with meticulous attention to detail, materials, and the finest architectural solutions. However, one unique element makes the space outside the walls magical and irreplaceable: nature.
The botanical awareness of a designer allows us to shape the project by incorporating living organisms, while the skilled hand of a gardener guides the ecosystem toward its best possible evolution.
Which plants should we use for a terrace?
The answer is far from obvious, and we cannot limit ourselves to a trivial list, like those found on so many hobbyist or non-professional websites. Our focus is on the plants themselves, and therefore the delicate and complex choice of a species to be inserted into the right context cannot be made by referring to online guides or fleeting trends.
What, then, governs the selection of plants? Certainly, a conceptual thread agreed upon with the client, such as a deep connection with the surrounding landscape (suggesting native species or those with a very natural look), the memory of moments from childhood (perhaps a lush tropical vegetation), or greenery that marries perfectly with the chosen interior design and furnishings.
In all these cases, it is essential to conduct careful site analysis, evaluating climatic averages, rainfall levels, wind, and exposure. The chosen conceptual thread may not always align with the site’s peculiarities, necessitating further reasoning.
It must be said that the botanical world is so infinitely vast that it almost always offers a solution for every context. Furthermore, cultivating plants in a custom-created substrate is undoubtedly facilitated. For these two fundamental reasons, getting very close to the initial vision, even under less-than-ideal or adverse climatic conditions, can be relatively straightforward.
But why must plant selection be made so accurately, certainly entrusting it to an expert, without seeking ready-made recipes and avoiding shortcuts? Simply put, to avoid wasting money, but also—and above all—because knowing how to correctly select and combine plants is the foundation of successful design.
Cortner steel planters with herbaceous plants for a small roof garden in Rome
Until today, it was enough to go to the local garden center, get advice on the “right plant,” buy it, and wait for nature to take its course. Almost always, we relied on plants with a very short cycle, which in the best-case scenario never reached the end of their first year. In the worst and more frequent scenario, due to an unsuitable substrate, wrong exposure, or incorrect water management, we witnessed premature drying and very poor performance even during the initial establishment phases.
This approach, protracted for too many decades, has created misinformation and a terrible distortion of reality: spending as little as possible on plants that will inevitably die anyway.
Plants are part of an infrastructure—what in landscape architecture and on a larger scale is defined as green infrastructure (and sometimes blue, due to water management)—and therefore must last over time. They must develop the initial design idea over the years, accompanied by the skilled hands of a capable gardener.
The plants we propose are almost always perennials, meaning plants capable of persisting for years. Sometimes, to achieve immediate effects, it is legitimate to use certain plants with explosive growth but equally rapid regression and decline. This is usually done to obtain a beautiful effect already in the first year, awaiting the growth of the structural plants that will remain there for years.
However, all this must be communicated; it is part of the design and should not cause alarm. simply put, through planting design, we attempt to simulate the laws of nature, sometimes calculating and predicting a small percentage of plants that will not reach the second year.
A roof garden well-designed by our studio has turned this outdoor space into a splendid green living room
Having said this, the other crucial aspect to understand is that cultivating plants in an artificial substrate gives us infinite possibilities.
Creating gardens on ground is usually very complex as it requires an in-depth study of the soil and, in many cases, substantial expenses to improve it. Starting instead with a new cultivation substrate, well-draining and with characteristics ideal for growing the majority of plants, lays the foundation for a nearly limitless and surprising selection.
Finally, the climate of cities, strongly influenced by the scarcity of vegetation and the heavy presence of concrete, is always rather altered and on average 3-5 degrees higher than that of the countryside or neighboring ecosystems. This factor leads to further reflection: often, native plants present in nearby natural territories may no longer be compatible with the city climate.
What does this mean? That to find the plant capable of resisting in the chosen position, we are necessarily called upon to draw from plants from all over the world, often from ecosystems very different from our own.
Cultivating a plant in a container thus gives us the possibility to use tropical plants in Rome or Mediterranean plants in Milan, in places where winter minimums would apparently not be ideal.
Mediterranean terrace created in Milan by Sandro Degni
Mediterranean terrace created in Milan by Sandro Degni
How to create a roof garden?
First and foremost, it must be stated that a realization should always be preceded by a project. If this does not happen, the probability of tailoring a roof garden to the client’s needs and the site’s characteristics is zero.
As a Garden Design studio, we always propose three work phases to our clients, for any type and size of garden (even a 100 sqm terrace), divided into concept, definitive, and executive design. Through the concept phase, we explore the different possibilities the space offers us, always after carefully studying the client’s desires. This first process allows us to show our clients unexpected solutions and different interpretations, making the selection process exciting and particularly effective. Once the design is chosen, we take care of representing it through photorealistic renderings, with the aim of immersing our clients as faithfully as possible in their future garden.
The final phase is the most important as it delivers all construction details and allows for the correct computation of the work, with a margin of error of zero. Our executive drawings detail every design area, from plants to planters, from construction techniques to planting methods, from pergolas to water features, from irrigation to lighting, etc.
It is in no way possible to bypass all this and expect to obtain a satisfactory result. The alternative is highly likely to be a huge waste of money.
Render of our new terrace in Rome. Both the kitchen unit, the planters, and the privacy screens are entirely made of sheet metal.
The choice of materials should be another very important element of study, as it serves not only to return a precise design idea but then proves fundamental to the garden’s success itself. We like to speak of “roof gardens” because we love bringing our work on the ground even to several meters in height. But how is it possible to achieve this?
Sheet metal gives us the possibility to work incredibly, adapting to any space but above all recreating the most sinuous forms possible, as in this newly built terrace in Milan:
Terrace created by Sandro Degni in Milan
The planter thus becomes one with the available space, shaping something new, previously unthinkable—a true garden with a natural look and particularly immersive feel. Bringing the sinuosity of a naturalistic garden is today possible thanks to the wise use of sheet metal, which allows for nearly infinite designs and combinations. We can thus compare sheet metal to the earth, to plant trunks, to a sort of supporting infrastructure that simulates and abstracts what we are accustomed to seeing in a garden.
The extreme customization of this material also allows for the adoption of particularly interesting solutions for plants, creating ideal cultivation conditions, reducing management costs, and helping us preserve as much water as possible over the years.
Particular attention must then be given to cultivation substrates, the true protagonists and actors in the success of our terraces. Agronomic solutions adopted for green roofs (which give us further possibilities, but we will discuss them soon) often prove very interesting for pots and planters as well. Peat is a lightweight material, with well-known properties, which, if correctly amended, creates optimal cultivation conditions.
Equal or superior results can today also be obtained from soils used for green roofs, very light and composed mainly of inert materials. These substrates guarantee greater durability over the years and therefore better long-term performance, thus maximizing the benefits of the initial investment.
A terrace with pergola and dining area, designed by us
La Roqqa Hotel
As experts in the Mediterranean landscape, we were called by the Jonsson family (of the Qarlbo group) to design the exteriors of several properties in Porto Ercole, including the Hotel La Roqqa.
We had to study a design that would marry perfectly with the wonderful Mediterranean landscape, typical of Monte Argentario, and the style chosen for the interiors and furnishings.
Among our initial proposals, we created an inclusive design that would frame the splendid landscape of Porto Ercole. Groups of planters with sinuous shapes, as we like, to bring the beauty of our gardens to the terrace as well.
Once the hotel design was defined, curated by the famous Palomba Serafini studio in Milan, we shifted our focus toward a more minimal approach but at the same time deeply linked to the Tuscan tradition. The client asked us to bring terracotta everywhere to give an unmistakable sense of Tuscany during the guests’ stay. We thus turned to one of the most famous kilns in Impruneta, Poggi Ugo, to choose a modern, simple, and captivating design. The pots were arranged in small groups, with the aim of recreating small Mediterranean tableaus, strongly in tune with the natural landscape and the oldest Italian traditions.
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Terrace in Madrid
We like to communicate through examples and through beauty. This terrace, splendidly designed by a Spanish colleague, Alvaro Sampedro, perfectly embodies our concept of a roof garden as it effectively expresses all the potential of a terrace or penthouse, if well designed.
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