“It’s a little soap opera of its own”: Fascinating green roofs offer complexity, movement, sensory engagement, and vast vistas

Abstract

Green roofs are a popular way of providing environmental benefits and places where people can experience and benefit from nature, but we know very little about the features and experiential characteristics that can support this. Fascination through interest and engagement is argued to be a key component of landscapes that restore wellbeing. We explored this proposition using complementary approaches in two studies investigating green roof landscapes. The first explored fascinating visual features using a photo-based survey, with 29 diverse international green roofs. The second explored fascinating features and characteristics of experience using interviews following virtual green roof visits, asking participants for their perceptions of the view and experience while visiting. We integrated findings across studies to develop a model of green roof design. We identified complexity through space and time, movement into and of features in the landscape, multi-sensory engagement, and connecting with distance through vast vistas as key to fascinating green roof experiences. These characteristics were associated with features on and beyond the roof, both natural and built. Many of these characteristics and features are applicable to urban landscapes more broadly, however, some, such as connection with the sky and movement and process in the city, appear to be unique to elevated views and experiences and warrant further study.