Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre
Toronto, ON, Canada
102,257 sf Greenroof
(Video)

Greenroofs.com Featured Project September 22, 2021

As we recently discussed in our September 2021 Newsletter, addressing the protection of cities from disastrous flooding with resilient strategies – both green and gray – is imperative.

We selected the Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre as our Featured Project as it does just this. Flourishing after seven years, the immense living roof blankets the mall with a living, breathing, permeable ecosystem of plant material!

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

The reality is we need to vastly cool down our warming planet to effect climatic change on a grand scale and designing with living architecture and nature-based solutions is key.

Kudos to developer/owner Cadillac Fairway for its ecologically sensitive thinking for the Sherway Gardens Expansion Phase 1 as well as DIALOG as the Project Architect, Next Level Stormwater Management for its consulting and Xeroflor greenroof system, and Gingko Sustainability for installation, to just name some of the key players.

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

Excerpt from the Greenroofs.com Project Profile:

Part of a $550 million (Canadian) project with DIALOG as the Project Architect for the expansion of Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, Phase 1 of the project opened in September 2015. Originally built in 1971 and famous for its iconic white tent roof structure, the LEED certified 210,000 sf added 50 new stores to the mall, a new second level food court that can seat more than 1,000, and greatly expanded multi-level parking for 1,200 more vehicles.

Plus, Sherway’s 9,500 m2 or 102,000 sf pre-vegetated lightweight sedum roof is the largest greenroof on a free-standing commercial structure in the Greater Toronto Area. Since the shopping mall’s massive greenroof is visible from the condominium towers at Sherway Gardens Road, neighbors’ views are greatly enhanced, creating even more of an example of sustainable development.

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

The greenroof was designed as part of the Stormwater Management Program for the Sherway Gardens Expansion and underground storage cisterns in the parking field were initially required to control stormwater quantity as an additional element. But the size and storage volume capacity of the greenroof offered an opportunity for these to be reduced in size from the original requirement.

Sherway Gardens chose the Next Level Stormwater Management XF301 Sedum Standard greenroof system because of its key benefits.

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

As one of the lightest greenroof systems available, it also offers a high water retention-to-weight ratio. The Xeroflor system weighs 12 pounds per square foot, fully saturated and the Sherway Gardens greenroof can retain 33.9 liters per square meters or 1.3 inches of rainfall fully saturated.

With a total profile of only 63 millimeters or 2.5 inches, it comprises a root barrier, a drainage mat, two layers of recycled polymeric water retention fleeces and a pre-cultivated sedum mat on a conventional roofing assembly, and the greenroof has no permanent irrigation system.

Close-up of the vegetation with beautiful fall color on November 4, 2015 atop the Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management

More

Slowing stormwater runoff from the massive Sherway Gardens greenroof with its beautiful array of colorful sedums benefits both the city and the environment. Various bird species have nested and made Sherway their home in a very industrial part of the city. And the living roof also played a role in ensuring that the expansion was LEED certified.

Developer Cadillac Fairview says they are immensely proud of their Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre North Expansion greenroof, as sustainability is a key principle that drives the company’s success and innovation to deliver an environmentally friendly experience for their customers.

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

Year: 2014
Owner: Cadillac Fairview
Location: Toronto, Canada
Building Program: Commercial
Project Type: Extensive
System: Custom
Size: 102,257 sq. ft.
Slope: 1%
Access: Inaccessible, Private

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre greenroof on July 8, 2015. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management

Credits:

ARCHITECT & PLANNING:
DIALOG DESIGN

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
PCL CONSTRUCTORS CANADA INC.

ROOFER:
BOTHWELL ACCURATE

MEMBRANE:
IKO – CONVENTIONAL ROOFING ASSEMBLY

GREENROOF INSTALLATION:
GINKGO SUSTAINABILITY

GREENROOF SYSTEM:
XF301 SEDUM STANDARD, NEXT LEVEL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

PHOTOS:
GREG VAN RIEL, NEXT LEVEL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre, 2021. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management by Greg Van Riel/gvrpix.com

See the Project Profile

See the Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre Project Profile to view ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.

Sherway Gardens Shopping Centre greenroof on September 23, 2015. Image: Next Level Stormwater Management

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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!

By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host