Medical Center’s Roof is Now Full of Life

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

How a new building at the Columbia University Medical Center got a vegetated roof with the help of SOPREMA. 

When the Columbia University Medical Center got a new building added to their campus, one of their wishes was that it could have a stable and vegetated roof. The 20-acre Northern Manhattan campus is located close to the Hudson River and is home to four separate colleges. Students studying medicine at Columbia University attend this campus in either the physician, surgeon, dental, public health or nursing college. 

With this center being known for its leadership in scientific research, it was a priority for the college to have a vegetated roof for their new building. It was also important that all the products came from a single-source manufacturer that offered one warranty for the whole project. This is exactly why they chose SOPREMA products to help get this job done right. 

SOPREMA products were chosen largely because they have amazing waterproofing capabilities. The roof system was a two-ply SBS-modified bitumen roof with PMMA flashing. This roof was a LEED®-certified project and met all FM codes. To complete the roof system, trees, grass and turf perennials were installed to create a beautiful, vegetated roof. 

The size of the PMMA roof was 13,500 square feet and the SBS waterproof green roof was 9,200 square feet. L. Martone & Sons, Inc were the roofing contractors on the job and Sciame was the construction manager. The following products were used for the project: 

• COLPHENE® FLAM 180 
• COLPHENE® FLAM 180 FR GR 
• ALSAN® RS 230 Flash 
• ALSAN® RS Fleece 
• SOPRANATURE® Ecovent