How do you take advantage of a roof, or fifth facade?

Knowing that roofs can take up to 32% of a city’s horizontal space, they’re not anecdotal spaces. The most common projects, if you wanted to steer clear of classic coatings, are the ornamental green roofs or vegetable gardens installed on top of buildings. The idea of greening roofs in urban areas is present at the level of waste management, alimentary resources, rainwater and carbon storage.

But in reality, there are many more treatments depending on the specific technical needs of each roof, as well as site and climate related opportunities. The roofs can also lend their space to the development of buildup extensions, leisure or interactive structures. In short, roofs have not had the last word and we’ll let you discover these 26 projects where the architects give free reign to their creativity without losing sight of the essentials: integration into the landscape.

WOW LAB / WUTOPIA LAB

ACTIVITY HOMES AT YUNJIN ROAD / SCENIC ARCHITECTURE

GARDEN HOUSE / HAYHURST AND CO

GREEN HOUSE / SEAN GODSELL ARCHITECTS

GIJANG WAVEON / HEESOO KWAK AND IDMM ARCHITECTS

ARC EN CIEL SCHOOL / LABEL ARCHITECTURE

OB KINDERGARTEN AND NURSERY / HIBINOSEKKEI + YOUJI NO SHIRO

RODEPH SHOLOM SCHOOL PLAYDECKS / MURPHY BURNHAM & BUTTRICK ARCHITECTS

PARK ‘N’ PLAY / JAJA ARCHITECTS

HOUSE J / KEIKO MAITA ARCHITECT

TILT ROOF HOUSE / BCHO ARCHITECTS

JINTAI VILLAGE RECONSTRUCTION / RURAL URBAN FRAMEWORK

GREEN CLOUD / ZHUBO-AAO

10 ROOF PAVILION / ESPIRAL

A HOUSE IN NHA TRANG / VTN ARCHITECTS + ICADA

SOLRØDGÅRD WATER TREATMENT PLANT / HENNING LARSEN

HILLTOP GALLERY / DEEP ARCHITECTS

VILLA YPSILON / LASSA ARCHITECTS

ROCKSPLIT HOUSE / COMETA ARCHITECTS

HEAVENLY WATER SERVICE CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURAL EXPOSITION 2014 / HHD_FUN

ISSA MEGARON / PROARH

ANTEPAVILION / PUP ARCHITECTS

PARASITE HOUSE / EL SINDICATO ARQUITECTURA

HOFSTRAAT HOUSE ADDITION / DIERENDONCKBLANCKE ARCHITECTS

ONE MORE ROOM / ANTN

WORKSHOP IN THE CITY / ROMERO SILVA ARQUITECTOS