The positive impact of green roofs for the users and the building performance has been demonstrated in research and practice throughout case studies from all over the world. Variations of these interventions have categorized the characteristics that will increase their performance under different climatic conditions. Not only for the building performance and aesthetics, but for the urban environment as well. For cities like Rotterdam, the increasing effect of urban environmental issues is a fact. Predictions show that they will become critical factors for the development and upgrade of urban areas in the coming years. Green roofs can play a significant role on this problematic, and their potential has been recognized by the Municipalities as well, where different initiatives and subsidies have been created to increase their rate of implementation. Nevertheless, there are still many factors restricting their implementation and causing the increase of costs of these interventions. An important one is the weight of these interventions, for which current structures are not prepared for and reinforcement strategies are required.

This research focusses on the exploration of roof reinforcement strategies for the implementation of multifunctional roofs: Interventions that combine green roofs with different functions to increase their performance for the building, their impact for the city and the benefits for the investor’s interest. The city of Rotterdam is used as the context, where the vast flat-roof areas on post-war typologies create a great opportunity for the exploration of systemic solutions. Replicable strategies that will enable buildings for multifunctional interventions, increasing the roof’s loadbearing capacity, and making these interventions more accessible. The research concludes with the proposal of a strategy and its evaluation on fulfilling the given objectives.

This text is an investigation of process. It outlines the design development of a historic concrete slab retrofit using glass. By working through iterations that build off each other, it chronicles the steady unfolding of the concept coming into being. Materiality, statics, construction, and aesthetics are the parameters that are mediated in a case study intervention. The divide between preservation and progress, between the currently clear-cut choices of conservation or structural design, is a powerful space for transformation. The research looks in depth into the existing historic structure, recalculating it using modern methods. In turn, this informs geometry and configuration, which are iteratively redesigned to be minimal, respectful, and surgical. Foundationally, this project is a love letter to the ghosts in the hall, who are tasked with handing down their teachings to the future generations, so they better understand their responsibility to the universe and that all things past and present are equal parts of the whole.