Baker Street Building Transformed by Bauder Green Roof

  82 Baker Street located in the Marylebone district of Westminster in London is a commercial building that has recently undergone an extensive amount of renovation work. Central to the new developments was the refurbishment of the building’s flat roof, which included the creation of a green roof terrace area with impressive views across the West End. The original flat roof covering had surpassed its life expectancy and begun experiencing water ingress so urgently needed attention.

The building consists of a number of roof areas on a variety of different pitches and floors totalling over 1,400m2 in all. The roof was shrouded with unsightly equipment and redundant air conditioning units that no longer served a purpose and detracted from the appearance of the building so therefore needed to be removed as part of the required works. Prior to undertaking the necessary remedial work robust wind uplift calculations and weight loadings were performed by flat roof manufacturer Bauder to ensure that the new roof could resist the weather conditions it is likely to experience and bear the additional weight of the green roof system.

All of the original waterproofing on the main roof areas was removed before being replaced with Bauder’s premium reinforced bitumen system, which included a highly efficient tapered insulation for superior thermal performance and improved drainage falls, ensuring the roof achieved the required average 0.16 U-value. On the new ballasted terrace roof area, located on the building’s 5th floor, 400m2 of Bauder’s bituminous green roof system was installed with wildflower blanket around the roof perimeter delivering an instant carpet of vegetation.
A major challenge on this project was transporting the green roof products to the terrace roof as Baker Street is incredibly busy and the only way to move the heavy substrate and wildflower blanket was using a crane. It was also vital that the team worked in unison with all the other trades on site so that works progressed as expected without hindering one another. Despite the challenges faced throughout the project all roofing works were completed on time and to budget, providing the client with an innovative refurbished roof that boasts extraordinary environmental credentials. This project is undeniably an exceptional example of how modern roofing technology can help rejuvenate a historical site.
Yefgeniy Beylkin, project specifier from Marks Barfield Architects stated, “The Bauder Total Green Roof System with wildflower blanket installed at 82 Baker Street offers an oasis of biodiversity in the middle of the city. The green roof is made up of 24 native species of wildflowers carefully chosen by an ecologist not only for their attractiveness to wildlife but also for their low maintenance properties. The new roof space offers the staff a sanctuary with a sense of nature combined with spectacular views over London’s roof tops, promoting well-being, as well as providing additional social and entertaining space for the company.”