The Skygarden: The greening of North EDSA

MANILA, Philippines – Lifted from the road like a floating green ribbon, the newly opened Skygarden at SM City North-EDSA offers much green space not only for the mall, but also for the city as a whole. It buffers the mall from the busy EDSA intersection, and serves as a living organic link between the different components of The Block, the City Center, and The Annex.

A walk through the Skygarden is a walk unlike any other. Pockets of outdoor chairs give the shopper calm rest spots amidst restaurants and specialty stores. Cafes, grills, and dining outlets float on ponds or cluster around circular pocket gardens.

Canopied walkways meander amid undulating lawns, ponds, and trees, while tunnels of shops are sculpted out of the earth giving visitors a new dimension to the traditional mall experiences. The well-manicured Roof Garden has about 55 different species of plants, grass, and trees. The water features refresh visitors to the area: two bubblers, a simulated river flowing at the center, and waterfalls at the edge of the second floor, which act as a monumental screen onto which various promotional montages can be projected, giving the park an added presence at street level.

But more than just aesthetics, the Skygarden is an expression of the SM Supermalls’ commitment to sustainability and to protect the environment. Like most open-air roof gardens, the Skygarden can contribute up to 20-percent savings on cooling energy costs. In collaboration with a German company, it has an environmentally friendly multi-layered green roof system that ensures the optimum use of an increasingly scarce resource: water.

All plant species grow in a special type of garden soil, which offers a lightweight effect on the structure. The Skygarden also has a special type of drainage system that allows it to conserve water by retaining rainwater, which is used for the garden. SM is the first to use this type of technology in the Philippines.

The Skygarden is accessible from many points.   Its ground level has a vehicular parking and public transportation terminal, where customers can access the Skygarden via the escalators and stairs. There are driveways and drop off areas from EDSA for pedestrians, and the entire development will be connected to the combined LRT 1, MRT 1, MRT 7 Grand Terminal in the future.