Fletcher Studio：The Alexandria Roof Garden covers 20,000 square feet and provides a variety of outdoor spaces for a tech-sector client. The design of the project and paving system is inspired by the Quilts of Gee’s Bend, a community of African-American quilters who lived along the Alabama River and were famed for their colorful, geometric, and loosely constructed quilts. A careful study of the quilts informed the design of a variety of scaled spaces, small intimate meeting spaces, areas for groups, and a large assembly space for a variety of encounters, collaborations, and events.

The Roof Garden was divided into a series of distinct zones: a living sculpture garden with succulents and cacti, a pollinator garden to support the roof’s organic herb garden, and vibrant protea garden. A system of 4’ x 20’ steel breakform panels were utilized to tie into the paving pedestal system. The planter systems divide and delineate program areas. In select instances the large planters tie into each other to double as retaining walls for large planter areas where 60” box Olive Trees were placed. In conjunction with a sub-soil fiberglass decking system, continuous and lighter soil profiles were created to ensure sustained vitality of the 15’ Olive trees. The large central planters also created an amphitheater space running along linear artificial lawn.

The roof’s paving system uses 2’ x 2’ pavers and tie into the dimensions of the planters. To help diversify the ground plane at key gathering areas, 2’ x 4’ pavers were used. To counter the orthogonal layout and steel and concrete materials, an artificial lawn and a large custom vine trellis with overlapped steel cables allow for large group gatherings. The trellis area also contains a fully functional kitchen and bar area, that is supported by the herb garden.