In 2009, the management of the PCiTAL decided to refurbish the building. The project included the installation of a green roof to cover the six rooftops of the H-shaped building. This green roof was intended to favor the thermal insulation of the building and included a cistern or aljub, a deposit to accumulate rainwater to be used afterwards as a natural irrigation system for the plants on top of it. Unfortunately, a lack of maintenance led to the loss of the original vegetation and the substrate layer in some areas of the roof thus dooming the green roof to fail.
Now, the BIG4LIFE project has undertaken the challenge and is currently overseeing the work to bring back all shades of green to PCiTAL. On Monday 22nd of April, the works to refurbish the PCiTAL green roof started.
For the next several weeks, the crew will remove all the layers of the existing green roof (vegetation and gravel, substrate, geotextile sheet, filtron slabs, and plots) leaving the original waterproof layer exposed and ready to be replaced. Once the new waterproof layer is placed, the different layers to ensure the correct functioning of the green roof will be installed: waterproof sheet protection blanket, filtron slabs, drainage sheet, geotextile layer, distribution blanket, substrate, irrigation, and finally the vegetation.
