A feast for the eyes

The green roof on our Queen Anne Street development is adopting a planting scheme with a difference. It is being arranged formally so that it not only provides the range of planting that so many insects and wildlife depend on, but also adds colour and interest for occupants of the surrounding buildings.

Rectangular planting areas will be neatly edged in dwarf mountain pine and filled with herbs such as rosemary, chamomile, hyssop and thyme. These herbs will be complemented by flowering plants - an assortment of irises, alliums, tulips, hellebores, grape hyacinths and harebells. Finally, a variety of ornamental grasses, alpines and creeping conifers will provide year-round foliage.

And once insects, particularly solitary bees, discover the new green roof, we're hoping they will take up residence in the smart new bug boxes dotted amongst the vegetation.

The proposed green roof will be at second floor level over the rear conjoined mews part of the buildings that face Welbeck Way. It's part of a wider redevelopment scheme and it's all taking shape behind the retained facades of 47-53 Queen Anne Street.