Located between a historic main building and a park in Eupen, Belgium, the legislative building of the German speaking community has five living surfaces, the four sides of the facade and the roof, thanks to advanced greening concepts.

Calling it a "landscape project in front of a manor house where both buildings have their own character but still complement each other," a newly built concrete structure has been completely enveloped in living materials.

This green building is located between a historic main building and a park in Eupen, Belgium. One of the main intentions of the plan was to create a great view can be enjoyed from the main building.

To prepare the roof for the greening, it was sealed root-proof with PVC. The architects aim was to keep an even and consistent appearance of the facade and the roof greening and to let the different greenings fuse into one surface. To achieve this result, the planners had to find a supplier who offered both types of greening systems. The German-based company Optigr????(R)?n Interational AG, met the architect's expectations.

Different possibilities were tested and due to the vegetation and maintenance of the system, "lightweight roof" was chosen. It has a layer height of 5 centimeters and is composed of a protection and storage fleece, drainage board, and pre-cultivated sedum vegetation mats.

The crossover from wall to roof seems seamless at first sight because the grid at the end of the roof has the same material and color as the elements of the fa?????ade. Thanks to the mesh size, the sedum plants have enough space to grow through the grid and therefore cover it optically.

The green façade is a wall attached greening system without any connection to the ground. It's based on substrate, which brings these advantages: frost resistance for the plants, higher water retention, humidity float and more space for roots.

Construction requirements call for a static, suitable wall on which suspension rails can be installed and arranged with approved fixing devices. The facade elements can be greened after they've already been installed on the wall, or like in this case, pre-cultivated. Sedum plants were planted in plant containers several months prior to the commencement. In addition, sedum sprouts were incorporated into the substrate.

The following sedums were used:

• Sedum album 'Coral carpet'
• Sedum album 'Murale'
• Sedum lydium 'Glaucum'
• Sedum spurium 'Purpurteppich'
• Sedum spurium 'Fuldaglut'
• Sedum 'Shorbuser Blut'
• Sedum spurium 'Red Carpet'