At UNSW’s Kensington Campus in Sydney, Sky Park demonstrates how a shallow roof garden can deliver robust, long-term performance within highly constrained retrofit conditions.

Delivered as part of a test garden rooftop upgrade, the project operates within a 120mm green roof profile, requiring a system that could perform reliably under strict structural limitations while still achieving meaningful landscape outcomes.

Using Fytogreen’s Hydrocell lightweight engineered HY40  media, the build-up is designed to balance drainage, water retention and root support — enabling strong plant establishment within an ultra-shallow profile.  Strategic build-up zones were incorporated across the roof garden to increase media depth where required, providing sufficient root volume for larger plant species while maintaining overall weight efficiency across the system. This targeted approach allows for a more diverse planting palette without compromising the constraints of the retrofit structure. A selection of 24 species was curated for durability, exposure tolerance and long-term performance in rooftop conditions.

Now established, the 98m² installation demonstrates consistent plant health, density and coverage — reinforcing the capability of 120mm shallow roof garden systems in retrofit applications across commercial and institutional projects.