Roof terrace with planting beds and lounge chairs, looking out over the trees

Residential · Antwerp

Roof terrace, Antwerp

Fitting out a fine roof terrace is sometimes forgotten in the harsh weather of the north. At Marcotte Style we see the roof terrace as an extension of the house, so its furnishing has to match.

Designed and carried out by Marcotte Style
Bespoke furniture from our own workshop
Installed by our own team

The roof from above

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Roof terrace seen from above, with planting beds and seating areas across the whole roof — From above you can read how the roof is laid out: a series of planters divides the space into rooms, with a dining area, a lounge corner and an open sun terrace between them. The existing service volumes were not hidden but taken up as walls, with the planting against them.

Bird's-eye view of the roof terrace, with borders, pergola and lounge area — At the head of the roof lies the lounge corner, with the roof garden beside it.

The roof terrace

The design takes account of your wishes and of the surroundings, to create a harmonious roof terrace with character. Marcotte Style ensures a seamless process, technically as well as visually, and always looks for the best solution: a disadvantageous or unattractive element sometimes ends up becoming a highlight. The works are followed up with the greatest care, down to the smallest detail.

Roof terrace with white planters and a border in bloom — The terrace works in three layers. A floor of large concrete slabs, above it raised planters that double as a seating edge, and against them the white volumes of the existing chimneys. The planting is tall enough to shelter and low enough to leave the view.

Sun loungers on the roof terrace, with a wide view over the city — From the loungers you look out over the planting as far as the city.

Planting in permanent borders on the roof terrace, with the city behind — The white chimney volumes stand free in the terrace and carry the light fittings.

Path across the roof terrace, between borders and a wooden screen — On that side a timber screen with a dense hedge shuts out the neighbours.

Dining area on the roof terrace, surrounded by perennials — The dining area sits between two planters, out of the wind.

Round table on the roof terrace, between flowering borders — Under the edge of the pergola the table stands in the shade.

Roof terrace with purple planting along the railing and an outdoor cooking area — The lounge seats stand with their backs to the purple flowering plants, facing the trees.

Seating area on the roof terrace, against a wooden screen with climbers — A slatted screen in dark timber separates the bar from the service zone.

Pergola with a dining table on the roof terrace, amid dense planting — The pergola carries climbers and gives the dining area a ceiling.

Round lounge bed on the roof terrace, surrounded by purple planting — The round daybed stands on the sunniest corner of the roof.

Outdoor kitchen with a sink on the roof terrace, between the planting beds — By the outdoor kitchen a tap stands on a block, with the slatted screen behind it.

The building and the view

An exceptional location, in the middle of Brussels.

Long dining table under the pergola on the roof terrace — From under the pergola the view runs across the roof garden to the horizon.

The building seen from above, with the landscaped terrace on the roof — The terrace sits on the roof of an apartment building at the edge of the greenery. What is a flat roof from the street is a full garden from above.

The apartment building with its roof terrace, at the edge of the woods — At the back the building borders the woods.

The planting

The key elements of a roof terrace.

The load on the roof. To avoid disputes with neighbours or the owners' association, you can opt for a steel frame as the foundation of the terrace: a self supporting structure of steel beams and cross members that bears only on the load bearing walls. The great advantage is that the existing roof covering carries no load at all. It takes one 27 tonne silo lorry to bring some 30 cm of substrate onto a roof of 220 m² of which only 80 m² is planted, which amounts to a roof load of around 330 kg/m².

On this project there are also 7 tonnes of granite slabs over 130 m², or 54 kg/m², plus an average of 1.5 people at 150 kg/m², bringing the total load to around half a tonne per m².

For the load bearing calculation, the engineer takes account of the properties of the concrete and reinforcement steel usual for the period in which the building was put up. A building from 1950 to 1970 will, subject to some additional checks, take a maximum load of around one tonne per m², excluding the self weight of the concrete slab. The conditions: maximum spans of 3.3 m, a concrete thickness of 17 cm and a reinforcement section above 1490 mm²/m (source: engineering firm Mertens Werner bvba). In practice, most buildings are said to take a maximum of some 350 to 500 kg/m². An ordinary accessible roof structure has to carry at least 250 kg/m². If the roof was not designed to be walked on, its capacity may be low, so a stability check by an engineer is always needed, or a steel frame has to be used so that the whole terrace rests only on the supporting walls.

A precise architect's plan. Assisted by leading garden architects, the plants are chosen so that something is in flower at any moment. Every plant is selected for its height and colour. Shade, sun, ease of maintenance, colour and rate of growth matter just as much.

Choosing the plants. On this terrace we used, among others: Acer palmatum, Centranthus ruber albus, and as ground cover Clematis vitalba, Geranium macrorrhizum and Lavandula. For colour combinations, the work of Piet Oudolf is a genuine source of inspiration.

Japanese maple in a planting bed on the roof terrace — The planting was chosen for what a roof can take: wind, full sun and a shallow layer of soil. A Japanese maple has a planter of its own, around it perennials that keep themselves going and need not be replaced every year.

Cranesbill with pink flowers as ground cover on the roof terrace — Cranesbill covers the ground beneath the taller planting.

Old man's beard in flower in the planting of the roof terrace — The clematis climbs up the pergola and flowers white in late summer.

White valerian in the border of the roof terrace — White valerian gives the terrace its height, with red flowers in between.

Before and during the works

Perfect preparation. Getting the materials and the substrate up onto the roof terrace is not straightforward and calls for precise timing and organisation.

Over the asphalt layer a PVC membrane is laid, up against the upstand. On the flat base comes a drainage membrane, which lets surplus water from the soil or substrate seep away under the kerbstones, then under the slabs, and on into the gutter.

The granite slabs are then laid neatly level on the flat roof, always on adjustable pedestals, so they can be fine tuned into a perfectly firm floor.

Once everything is aligned, the kerbstones can be set. The substrate is then pumped up and fed into the planters.

The base of the roof terrace during construction, with the concrete planters in place — Before anything grows there is the technical work. The roof was given a new waterproof membrane first, then the upstands of the planters, and only after that the floor. Every planter has its own drain.

The growing substrate is pumped into the planting beds of the roof terrace — The planters are filled on site: the soil goes up onto the roof through a hose.

Ready to start your project?

From the first sketch to the last skirting board, everything stays in house. Our interior architects draw, our workshop builds the furniture and our own team delivers and installs. So you have one point of contact, and nobody passing you on.

Our own interior architects and our own workshop
Photorealistic 3D before anything is made
More than 25 years of experience, over 500 clients
First meeting and budget estimate free of charge
Four showrooms, by appointment

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