The Inside Details on The Award Winning IGA Organic Rooftop Farm
More than 30 kinds of vegetables are produced on the roof; i.e. kale, lettuce, carrots, green beans, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, spinach and more.
Written By Roxanne Miller
Living Architecture Magazine
Spring 2022
Excerpt:
When you see the IGA’s rooftop farm, it’s hard to imagine that it came very close to never happening at all. If it hadn’t been for the visionary output of La Ligne Verte’s co-founders Antoine Troitter and Patrice Godin, this project would have been a four-inch sedum mat extensive green roof. Not that this would have been a bad thing in itself, but we will all agree that it would have been very far from the iconic rooftop farm it has now become. The neighborhood where the grocery store is located is Ville Saint-Laurent, on the Island of Montreal.
This neighborhood’s regulations require new roofs to be either green or reflective (white) and this specific project was required to have 50% of the building roof area covered with a green roof system. To meet this requirement, a simple extensive sedum roof was designed and the bidding process went out as such. The project was awarded to La Ligne Verte, who were able to convince the IGA’s owner of the added value of investing in a large scale urban rooftop farm. The roof was also redesigned to highlight the IGA logo and that is represented in the shape of the green roof.
When the Duchemin family partnered with La Ligne Verte they didn’t think the project would have such a big impact. The rooftop farm gained a lot of attention in the media across North America and even across borders, being published in many countries throughout the world.
Many professionals were involved in this Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ Awards of Excellence winning project: SOPREMA, NEUF Architectes, Le Groupe Mach and Sobeys are just a few of the stakeholders who participated. The entire concept was brought forth and happened as a result of the involvement and persistence of La Ligne Verte, the local Montreal company that incorporated a very creative solution- based approach to this project.
