It’s been a year and a half since Amy’s Kitchen, an all vegetarian drive thru, opened in Rohnert Park, CA, about 1 hour north of San Francisco, and its gorgeous living roof has finally grown in. SYMBIOS ecotecture originally designed and installed the integrated living roof to enhance the building’s energy and storm water management performance and offset the building’s impact by providing a habitat for wildlife.
Amy’s Kitchen Drive-Thru Restaurant, designed by Trachtenberg Architects, serves all vegetarian, organic and non-GMO food. A patchwork of pollinator friendly, drought-tolerant and perennial plants sweeps across the roof, a water storage tower holds rainwater and a solar array provides electrons for energy. The rooftop soil mix contains a percent of Bio-char in order to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, while producing oxygen.
The site features a 15Kw solar array canopy that the cars drive under on their way to pick-up meals, as well as charging stations for electric cars. Rain water that collects in the parking lot is directed into bioswales and on-site storm water detention areas in order to sink water into the ground.
