Green rooftops help regulate the temperature in the city and contribute to energy savings, benefitting air quality, biodiversity and making for a more pleasant urban landscape. They also promote the use of natural resources and boost relationships between local residents.

The ten winning projects in the competition are to apply these environmental and landscape benefits to four housing blocks, two schools, a healthcare and science centre, a residence for the elderly, two industrial buildings and some offices around seven city districts: Ciutat Vella, L’Eixample, Sants-Montjuïc, Sant Andreu, Sarrià – Sant Gervasi, Gràcia and Horta-Guinardó.

Although each project has been designed according to the characteristics and dimensions of the rooftops of each building, ranging from 83 to 1,085 square metres, the majority of proposals include various green zones and rest areas, solar panels, rainwater collection systems, bird boxes and insect hotels, with half of them also featuring urban cultivation patches.

Exhibition at La Model

The winning projects, chosen according to feasibility and suitability criteria from an initial 45 entries with financed technical studies, will get subsidies worth 75% of the cost of the work and the surveys needed to carry them out. The cost of work and technical survey ranges from 40,000 to 165,000 euros, depending on the project. The City Council is to subsidise 75% of this cost, up to a maximum of 100,000 euros for each project.

The ten green rooftop projects went on display today in the yard at La Model, outlining the benefits of each one. The exhibition was opened as part of Architecture Week.

Want a green rooftop?

Besides the competition, all residents’ communities can apply for annual subsidies to develop green roof projects as part of a package of renovation subsidies covering up to 40% of the costs.

The implementation of green rooftops is one of the measures set out in the Climate Plan, the Barcelona Greenery and Biodiversity Plan for 2020 and the Programme for Urban Green Infrastructures to achieve a greener, healthier, more sustainable and inhabitable city, with improved quality of life for its inhabitants.