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Pocket Habitat was developed by Arup for British Land’s existing building and urban land stock, providing shape and structure and encouraging wildlife.
Individual units are placed together to create a striking carpet of vegetation. Each unit is tied to its neighbour and has contact on all sides to ensure there are 2.8 pockets per square metre.
The form of each Pocket Habitat is engineered to provide sheltered, shaded and exposed areas to enhance plant growth.
As well as shape, colour has been incorporated in the soil substrates to add an even greater impression of texture and visual beauty. The differing substrates are carefully chosen to help promote diverse communities of species.
Because each Pocket Habitat only weighs 20kg at delivery, they are ideally suited to being manually handled, speeding up installation and making retrofitting of existing buildings simple and effective.
Once the bags are positioned, nestled together to form a regular pattern, a simple drawstring opens the bag to allow rain and light to promote seed germination and plant growth.
Benefits beyond sedum roofs
Compared to a typical sedum roof installation, Pocket Habitat supports the development of a wide range of vegetation, providing shelter and food for invertebrates such as bees, butterflies and spiders.
Due to the compact, modular design Pocket Habitat saves on installation time and cost. Lightweight pockets allow retrofitting onto existing roofs of any age and are suitable for temporary sites and transfer to roof level. The system achieves optimum rates of wildflower seed germination, plant survival and habitat sustainability.
The system meets BREEAM criteria as a Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) tool for managing stormwater run-off and drainage, reduces noise and improves air quality.
Pocket Habitat material is 100% recyclable and meets UK Government targets for reducing landfill waste.
