Synopsis
It seems surprising that the owner of this spectacular roof terrace, which can be found 13 floors up on the roof of a RIBA award winning building in Kings Cross with unrivalled and spectacular panoramic views of London, has a fear of heights. For one of the main briefs given to garden designer Emily Erlam when designing the roof terrace, was to disguise the vertiginous edges of the terrace as well as create a green space that could withstand desiccating winds, extremely dry conditions and searing heat.
‘The Dry Gardening Handbook’ by Olivier Filippi, became an essential resource when choosing the plants that would be suitable for the micro climate on the roof terrace. She selected mound forming conifers and shrubs that would provide shelter and screening such as multi-stemmed dwarf pine ‘Pinus sylvestris ‘Watereri’, Pinus mugo and Hebe rakaiensis.
The edges of the planters which were only planted half full due to strict weight restrictions are planted with Mediterranean plants such as Santolina chamaecyparissus, Lavandula Grappenhall and Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus Group’, and you can see wandering trails of Gaura lindheimeri blowing in the breeze in every direction.
The bronze water feature provides continual sound and a sense of movement, which adds to the sense of tranquillity and seclusion that has been created here, as the owner says ‘When you are out on the terrace at the weekends, this place is so quiet. There’s a real sense of peace and calm’. Which when you consider this beautiful space’s location is quite an achievement, as is creating such a lush evergreen and colourful planting scheme that can withstand such inhospitable conditions.
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