Hayes Apartments

7 January 2010

Landscapers have begun the intricate task of planting Wales' biggest residential rooftop gardens.

The courtyard sky gardens are being created for the residents of Hayes Apartments above the new St David's shopping centre in Cardiff - four storeys up from street level.

The stunning contoured courtyard gardens have been designed for residents to enjoy a contemporary and useable outdoor space with lawns, paving, decking, seating, plants and trees.

Chris Butten, of specialist landscape architects Hyland Edgar & Driver who designed the courtyard gardens, said: ''Our inspiration for the gardens was both relaxation and interaction. We wanted residents to make use of the fantastic outdoor spaces so they could sit and read a book, enjoy the sunshine and interact with each other.

''We are introducing feature trees to bring life to the area as well as a mixture of plants to give the garden a nice soft feel with good splashes of colour and scent throughout the year. There are fantastic views and the area will feel very spacious.

''The walkways between the gardens and the residential blocks will be raised up so you will literally be able to step down into the gardens to enjoy them. Many of the apartments have a balcony or viewing platform out over the gardens and the lower level has a generous hardwood timber deck which looks over them too.''

The courtyard gardens on top of the Welsh shopping centre are a contemporary feature which draws comparisons with sky gardens in London, Chicago, Japan and Singapore.

Landscapers have now started laying the foundations for the gardens by building supporting walls and installing a drainage layer before rolling out the turf and planting the trees and plants.

The gardens will have a fully automatic irrigation system underneath them with pop-up sprinklers.

Mr Butten continued: ''It's a completely different environment for a garden to grow up on the roof tops. The plants aren't used to growing this high up so we've carefully chosen foliage which will establish successfully in the gardens. On the ground, a plant would have at least a metre of soil underneath it so up in the sky we've recreated our own ideal growing environment.

''Creating a garden on a roof four storeys up in the air has been a completely different project to work on. It has been a challenge but has been a very exciting one.''

The courtyard gardens have been a talking point among potential buyers at Hayes Apartments as it is the only scheme to offer the feature in the city.

Jan Eldridge, residential sales and marketing manager at Hayes Apartments, said: ''At Hayes Apartments you can have the best of both worlds; city living on your doorstep and the tranquility of the courtyard gardens which will be a haven away from the hustle and bustle of the streets below.

''The gardens are beautiful but they are not just decorative. They have been specifically designed to be used and enjoyed by all the residents and they are large spaces too. It's above and beyond what you would expect from a residential scheme in the city.

''We wanted Hayes Apartments to be unique and we feel that the courtyard gardens are the perfect finishing touch to the high specification apartments.''

Prices at Hayes Apartments start from just £129,995 for a one bedroom apartment and £197,995 for a two bedroom apartment. For more information, visit the show apartment at the marketing suite in St Mary Street, Cardiff, call 029 2066 6693 or visit www.hayes-apartments.co.uk.