The roof garden for the Bookmen Stacks/Lofts brings an artfully constructed & ecologically conscious breath of green into the streets of Minneapolis' historic North Loop neighborhood. Sited over an underground parking garage, the rooftop garden covers close to a full city block. Varying in depth from 12" to 2 feet, the garden includes Mondrian-esque panels of turf and crushed stone, and raised circular Corten steel planters of native & ornamental grasses. A grid of individual square Corten planters hold golden-hued willow trees. The stormwater system the roof uses is a very detailed self-watering, stormwater recovery system and soil profile that helps to reduce runoff from the site. The system allows water to percolate through the soil and fill cisterns buried across the roof profile. These cisterns then allow the grass above to draw water from them as needed, they are then refilled via rainfall, or in cases of dry weather, via irrigation. Offering unique places to sit, one of the best views of downtown Minneapolis, and an engaging spatial experience as one moves through - the garden has become the defacto "front lawn" for the Bookmen Lofts and the Bookmen Stacks - two adjacent condominium developments. The garden will take on characteristics of a campus quad when the new restaurant, currently under construction at its southern edge, is completed.The garden was designed with a distinguishing pattern and carefully chosen materials that will provide visual interest, in all seasons, from the windows of the residences situated above.