Living Rooftops

of Jimmy’s House, North Perth

This home has a deep connection to landscape as sanctuary and healer for MJA Design Director Jimmy and his partner. The living rooftops adorn a multi-award winning unique and amazing house by MJA Studio. banksia & lime's local plant expertise was selected to design planting for the extreme heat and drought of a shallower than standard rooftop garden in Perth. We are creating a Western Australian native plant habitat with food for fauna as well as for cooling and aesthetic purposes. With a diverse mix of species, these rooftops are a gesture towards acknowledging the Whajuk Noongar Boodjar that our urban density has cleared of biodiversity. This living rooftop research garden accommodates plants evolved to withstand shallow soils, wind, extreme heat, extreme evaporation, drought and very little water. Seasonal colour and texture changes are a highlight thus we call it a living rooftop not a green roof because it has a diversity of colours. This is definitely one experiment to watch grow and evolve.

The wonderful edible and medicinal ground garden was designed by Oak Tree Designs. It is a privilege to work on this project!

Jimmy's House — MJA Studio

banksia & lime’s design approach has been formed from a lifetime of land, family and community care, marvelling at the micro and macro scales of nature’s systems, and extensive experience in landscape design.