Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 12/29/14

Hobbiton™ Movie Set
Matamata, New Zealand
2,300 sf. Greenroofs (estimated)

Project Description & Details

The vivid descriptions of the peaceful, merry, and diminutive Hobbits in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books have been brought to life through the magic of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies directed by New Zealander Peter Jackson. Situated within the picturesque 1,250 acre Alexander sheep farm on New Zealand’s North Island, the 12-acre Hobbiton™ Movie Set represents Tolkien’s vision of the idyllic Middle-earth village of the Shire.

In 1999 a temporary movie set was constructed by Wingnut Films Productions for the multi-award winning The Lord of The Rings trilogy with a total of 37 smials, or Hobbit holes, nestled within the bucolic countryside. The original set was largely deconstructed afterwards, but was permanently rebuilt in 2011 for The Hobbit trilogy. Forty-four unique earth-sheltered Hobbit homes were constructed of stone, concrete and brick, covered with native grasses and clovers and surrounded by gardens and orchards farmed for fresh produce. There are approximately 2.3km (and growing) of hedges and 30 – 200 plants around each Hobbit house and 1.2km of hedges and mature Hobbit-scale trees were sourced from all over the local countryside. There are over 50 staff on a permanent basis – up to 180 staff over the peak period – at the Hobbiton™ Movie Set, including 7 – 8 gardeners during height of season and 5 in the winter.

Accessible only by tour, the Hobbiton™ Movie Set is now a permanent passive attraction complete with rolling greenroofed Hobbit holes, gardens, double arched bridge, thatched stone Mill and The Green Dragon™ Inn with its own distinctive thatched rolling roofs offering traditional Hobbit fare and exclusively crafted Southfarthing™ refreshments.

Find more photos and additional information about this project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Also see my Sky Gardens Blog post of December 30, 2014 “Greenroofs.com Explores Middle-earth at Hobbiton, NZ” for tons more information and photos.

Year: 2011
Owner: Alexander Farm with Peter Jackson
Location: Matamata, New Zealand
Building Type: Commercial
Type: Semi-Intensive
System: Custom
Size: 2,300 sq.ft. averaged & estimated
Slope: 9% averaged & estimated
Access: Accessible, Private

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

Site Design & Layout: Wingnut Films Productions Limited
Earth-Sheltered Design & Construction: Wingnut Films Productions Limited
Maintenance: Wingnut Films Productions Limited
General Manager: Russell Alexander, Hobbiton Movie Set
Hobbiton Movie Set Arborist & Art Director, The Lord of the Rings: Brian Massey

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Hobbiton™ Movie Set – Project of the Week Video below or see it on our greenroofs.TV on YouTube:

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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof!

~ Linda V.