The brief for this project was to invigorate an ugly flat roof that marred the view of an otherwise verdent garden, providing year-round interest through different colours and textures. Recalled images of the Galapagos islands provided inspiration: I was struck by the uniquely individual shape and overall colour of each island. I reflected this through the variety of materials and plants used in their construction, using black and white volcanic pumice rock along with slate both to give height and add to the individuality of each island. The central island includes thin slithers of slate on their ends, creating height that provides a play of shadows over the islands throughout the day, and in turn giving a sense of viewing the islands from an aeroplane window. The use of miniature and slow growing sedums and hardy suculants give the impression of forested slopes and valleys. The islands don’t need watering and need only to be tended to remove airborne weeds once a year.