Kraus Development (525-565 Conestogo Road) | 3-35 fl | Proposed

[mastermind]

Topsoil doesn't weight that much. For context, you can build an entire building above underground parking, so a bit of soil and greenery isn't a huge challenge to hold up.

I think of it as a green roof at ground level, which given the current rage for green roofs should make it a no-brainer.

Topsoil does weigh that much and green roofs are pretty heavy too.  I'm not saying it's not a fantastic idea, I'm just saying it's money out of the developers pocket and we all know the challenge there.  Arguably on a project of this scale a few million dollars is a small price to pay for an actual good public space.  Let's team up and try to convince the owner lol.

Here's a random engineers report for a project in Maryland that I just quickly found on google.  https://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/thesis/portf...rt%201.pdf    On page 21 you can see a chart showing some of the design loads for the different areas.  In this case compared to a typical roof a "green roof" has double the dead load and a "courtyard planter" (which appears to be able to support small trees) has eight times the dead load.  This means a thicker concrete slab with more rebar.