Village at the Pines:
A Living View That Never Stays the Same
Grand Haven, Michigan | Installed Summer 2012
The LiveRoof® above the entrance at Village at the Pines has welcomed residents and visitors since 2012.
For more than a decade, the LiveRoof® green roofs at Village at the Pines have been changing with the seasons—and giving residents something new to see along the way.
Installed in summer 2012, the green roofs are part of an independent senior living community in Grand Haven, Michigan. The project incorporates LiveRoof Standard modules on the main building, along with Deep modules on other portions of the property, including a shed roof and an area used for a vegetable and herb garden. What makes this project noteworthy after more than 14 years isn’t simply its age. It’s the connection residents have formed with the living landscape outside their windows.
A View Worth Choosing
For several residents, the LiveRoof isn’t just something they came to appreciate after moving in. It influenced where they chose to live.
For residents at Village at the Pines, the LiveRoof® provides an ever-changing view just outside their windows.
Sisters Shelley Kuiper and Sharon Jansen moved to Village at the Pines about 18 months ago and selected their second-floor unit in part because it overlooks the LiveRoof. They enjoy watching it throughout the year—from fresh green growth and changing waves of flowers in spring and summer to fall coloration and snow-covered plants that become what they describe as little sculptures in winter.
Clara Visser, a 104-year-old resident who moved into Village at the Pines when the building first opened 14 years ago, also chose her unit because of its LiveRoof view. She continues to enjoy watching the landscape change throughout the seasons. “There’s always something in bloom,” she says.
Longtime resident Evelyn Smit, who has lived at Village at the Pines for eight years, especially enjoys spring and fall. Each spring brings a fresh start that looks a little different from the year before, while fall brings deep magenta coloration to the south end of the roof.
Their experiences illustrate something that can be difficult to capture in specifications and square footage: a green roof can become part of everyday life.
Sedums and accent plants create layers of color, texture and seasonal interest across the mature LiveRoof®.
A Living Landscape
The seasonal interest residents describe is no accident. In addition to 13 varieties of low-growing sedum, the LiveRoof contains 13 types of accent plants, including Allium, Bergenia, Carex, Epimedium, Euphorbia, Heuchera, Iris, Sedum and Talinum. Together, the plants create a living composition that changes in color, texture and bloom throughout the growing season. More than 14 years after installation, the landscape continues to evolve in response to weather, seasons and time.
At a senior living community, a changing landscape offers value beyond aesthetics. Residents can experience a connection to nature simply by looking outside their windows—watching plants emerge in spring, successive periods of bloom throughout summer, foliage transformation in fall, and snow during winter, creating little snow sculptures.
The LiveRoof also provides environmental benefits, helping manage stormwater, moderating rooftop temperatures and providing habitat for pollinators, insects and birds. It replaces what otherwise could have been a conventional rooftop view with a diverse living landscape.
From the upper floors, residents can enjoy the changing colors, textures and blooms of the LiveRoof® throughout the seasons.
Project at a Glance
- Project: Village at the Pines
- Location: Grand Haven, Michigan
- Installation: Summer 2012
- Building Program: Independent Senior Living Community
- Green Roof Size: Total of 1,698 sq. ft.
- Green Roof Locations: Entrance Portico, Outbuilding and Herb Garden
Fourteen years after installation, the LiveRoof® continues to provide a healthy, diverse living landscape.
Longevity Through Routine Care
Maintenance of the Village at the Pines LiveRoof is handled by onsite landscape employees following the LiveRoof Operation Guide. That ongoing care is an important part of green roof longevity. Rather than treating the roof as a landscape that can simply be installed and forgotten, routine maintenance helps preserve plant health, appearance and performance as the roof matures.
Fourteen years after the LiveRoof was installed, residents are still watching it change. For Clara, Shelley, Sharon, Evelyn and their neighbors, it isn’t simply a green roof outside the window. It is spring’s fresh beginning, summer flowers, deep magenta fall foliage and snow-covered plants in winter.
It is a view they chose—and one that keeps giving them something new to look forward to.
About this Series
This is the sixth installment in our ongoing series, Longevity of LiveRoof® Green Roofs, where we examine the durability and long-term performance of LiveRoof systems across North America.
Jodi Griffin is the Business Development Manager for LiveRoof® Global. Questions? Reach out anytime at jodi@liveroof.com.
