Melbourne's CBD is the latest city to join in the green roof garden bandwagon. According to a recent report, plans to transform Melbourne's CBD into an urban skytop oasis is well under way, with plans to bring trees and rooftop gardens to its growing inner-city population.

Melbourne City Council's urban forest plan is part of a 20-year blueprint in response to climate change and urban expansion.

A heritage-listed building in Sydney's suburb of Pyrmont, recently got a 3,000sq metre communal rooftop garden makeover. According to a recent report, native foxtail grass, vine-covered arbours, wide timber boardwalks, tall tuckeroo trees and a serene water feature completed this urban oasis.

This focus area was also highlighted in a January 2010 report, where the effect of the "urban heat island effect" (UHIE) has prompted countries worldwide to turn its focus on creating roof gardens "so that less heat is absorbed and less electricity used for cooling offices and apartments within." Factors such as motor vehicles, industry and air conditioning were said to add heat to the surrounds.

Decorative stone solutions, DecoR Stone , has supplied numerous projects where mundane roof decks were developed into architecturally and environmentally attractive creations.

DecoR Stone have been helping designers, landscape and urban architects create green roofs with their DecoR Glass (recycled crushed coloured glass) and DecoR Pebbles (imported decorative pebbles) offerings. These are an ideal lightweight, permanent colours aggregate for use in the greenscaping of urban high-rise roof decks.

Create environmentally friendly and contemporary outdoor living areas
DecoR Stone's recycled crushed coloured glass and imported decorative pebbles are cost efficient, with additional benefits including:

DecoR Glass:
  • manufactured using 100% recycled crushed glass
  • Australian manufactured product
  • incorporates a wide range of environmentally safe, lightfast, colour coatings for landscaping applications
  • choose from 36 colours to suit any design brief
  • pieces are polyurethane highly resistant to U.V. light, abrasion and weather
DecoR Pebbles:
  • available in the Enviroselect (environmentally friendly manufactured decorative pebbles) or River Pebbles range (beach and river pebbles)
  • ideal for informal gardens walkway or pathway, water features, courtyard gardens
  • suitable for indoor and outdoor applications
Green roof and roofscaping projects
With the innovative, environmentally friendly decorative aggregates, DecoR Stone has helped transform various roofscapes and roof gardens including:
  • Breakfast Point, Sydney: Re-creation of the geographical contours of the adjoining Parramatta Rivers
  • Monument, Sydney: Roof deck garden on top of the extravagant Monument Apartments
  • Mirvac Yarra's Edge: Created green roofscape using native grasses, crushed recycled glass and three decorative tumbled pebbles
  • Yarra's Edge Towers 4 & 5: Green roof created using a combination of different pebbles and stones and plant species