Primary school green roof designated for wildllife

In 2009, Bauder’s green roof on Sharrow Primary School in Sheffield was declared as a Local Nature Reserve, the first school in the UK to achieve this status. It’s a fitting accolade for a school that defies traditional ideas of what a school should be.

Restricted ground space opened up the opportunity to create green roofs at three levels for play space, 44 sq metres of outdoor classrooms and a 1200 sq metres biodiversity roof designed to replicate a meadow, complete with cornflowers and other urban plants. The roof also acts as a haven for birds and other kinds of wildlife, with rotting tree stumps provided for many kinds of insects. All of the roofs are used as a learning resource with curriculum-friendly uses for all the children.

Photo: copyright Bauder