Gajapati Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
CHAAS Living Laboratory
Every rooftop garden comes with one inevitable question:
"What happens to the roof after five or seven years?"
For years, we answered that question using engineering principles and our experience. But eventually we realised that belief alone wasn't enough—we needed evidence.
Our office rooftop in Gajapati Nagar had served as CHAAS's living laboratory since 2016. It wasn't built to impress clients; it was built to experiment. We tested vegetables, lawns, ornamental plants, drainage systems and lightweight rooftop layers, constantly observing how they performed over time.
After seven years, we made a decision that surprised many people.
We removed the entire rooftop garden.
Not because it had failed.
Not because there was leakage.
But because we wanted to see what was happening beneath it.
Layer by layer, we dismantled the system and inspected the drainage cells, waterproofing membrane and roof slab. The findings exceeded our expectations. The roof remained healthy, the drainage system was functioning properly and there was no evidence that the rooftop garden had damaged the structure.
That inspection gave us something more valuable than any marketing brochure—it gave us confidence backed by evidence.
The garden no longer exists, but the knowledge it provided continues to influence every project we design today. Sometimes, the greatest lesson lies beneath the surface.
The best way to build trust is to test your own work before asking others to trust it.