By: Pat Austin, Sales Representative - Architectural Products
In today’s urban landscape, green space is often a valuable commodity in short supply. Real estate values in these environments often make outdoor landscapes impractical. Yet people still crave views of the sky with green open spaces. The developers of Lucky Apartments in Madison, WI realized this and gave their occupants exactly that – by transforming a rooftop space from a barren utilitarian canvas to an outdoor gathering space, complete with fireplace, patio and gazebo.
Creating rooftop plazas does not come without challenges, however. Weight is a significant consideration, both dead and live loads. That’s where Foam-Control® Geofoam comes in. By offering the ability to create complex geometric configurations capable of bearing tremendous loads, all while adding minimal loading to the structure, making achievable designs possible.
At Lucky Apartments, a layer of tapered Foam-Control® Geofoam flattened out the structurally-pitched roof deck. A second layer of tapered geofoam on top of this provided drainage to a synthetic turf lawn area, while carrying the accompanying live loads of occupants enjoying the outdoors.
The end result is that residents can enjoy cookouts and music concerts on spaces previously reserved for HVAC units and air-handling equipment. Pretty lucky if you ask me!
