The Green roof bin and bike stores are currently resting up a greenrooftraining HQ. The Green roof bin and bike stores featured were back of a garden at Hampton RHS Garden Show back in August. They were designed and constructed by our sister company Greenroofshelters Ltd.
Bike Store
Green Roof Bin and Bike Stores on Social Housing
Although these were installed in a show garden, GRS have been providing these type of Green bin and bike stores for a number of social housing estates around the country – Wales to London. Seeing some of the kind of stores on our travels around country, most of pretty utilitarian. And some are quite ugly. We wanted to take the ideas and principles with our approach to small scale green roofs to create a new approach ot modular bin and bike stores. Of course the stores need to provide shelter and protection from the rain. That is a primary function.
Green roof bike shelter
However, by providing a flower rich habitat on Green bin and bike stores, we can provide small green infrastructure buildings that deliver more than just the primary function:
- biodiversity – of course this is the first on the list because we at GRT want more wildlife in our cities
- more biodiversity is delivered using the walls to provide a habitat for insects, especially pollinators
- visual amenity – the look of most bin stores and bike shelters are pretty on attractive. These give residents looking down on them something of beauty to look at
- even such small spaces, like rain gardens, can help to reduce local flooding
Side view with bicycle
Green roof bin and bike stores using adapted modular designs
The important thing here is that this aren’t designed to tick a box. They are designed to serve a real focus. Placing a simple sedum blanket onto a roof can tick the box, but the structure of the green roof bin and bike stores are designed to take a ‘good’ diverse green roof. This means that they are both resilient to drought and also provide a pocket habitat for a good range of insects. These are the principles that lead us to write this online guide and GRS is using to provide structures that perform.
Green roof bin and bike stores can brighten up a neighbourhood and provide a range of benefits. That is small scale green infrastructure in action.
For more information contact GRS
