MultiRoofs
Sky(line) is the limit: Transforming Rooftops for Sustainable Urban Resilience
MultiRoofs is a European project that explores how underused urban rooftops can be transformed into sustainable spaces for energy, nature, housing, and community life.
How can cities grow without taking up more land? This is the question at the heart of MultiRoofs, a European project launched in December 2024 and running through June 2029, with the support of the INTERREG North- West Europe programme. With a total budget of €6.33 million, including €3.8 million in co-funding from the European Union, the project brings together partners from across the region to explore new ways to make cities more sustainable. As urban areas across Europe face growing pressure to deliver more housing, renewable energy, green spaces, and climate resilience, MultiRoofs offers an innovative answer: look up.
Across Northwest Europe, rooftops cover a vast area of cities—but most remain unused. These spaces, sitting atop homes, offices, schools, and public buildings, represent a valuable opportunity to respond to today’s urban challenges. MultiRoofs brings together 14 partners from Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany to explore how these rooftops can be transformed into practical, multifunctional spaces for energy, biodiversity, water management, recreation, and even housing.
At the core of the project is a digital tool that creates 3D maps of rooftops. By analyzing factors like surface area, structure, and solar exposure, the tool helps cities and communities assess how each rooftop can be used effectively. This approach supports local planning and encourages tailored, scalable solutions for urban resilience.
In parallel, pilot projects are underway across the participating countries— testing real-world rooftop transformations on public and residential buildings. From solar panels and green roofs to rainwater systems and social spaces, these experiments show what’s possible when rooftop design is integrated into city-making.
The project also provides training, shared tools, and policy support, helping more than 30 public authorities embed rooftop strategies into their climate and urban development plans.
The MultiRoofs project brings together a diverse group of public authorities, research institutions, private entities, and NGOs from across Northwest Europe. Partners include Dublin City University (DCU), Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Codema (Dublin’s Energy Agency), FARI—AI for the Common Good Institute Brussels (ULB and VUB), Region Île-de-France, the City of Brussels, Rotterdam, Mannheim, and Mechelen, as well as organizations like MVRDV, Rooftop Revolution, and Roofscapes.
By helping cities rethink the role of rooftops, MultiRoofs promotes a more climate-friendly, resilient, and inclusive urban future—without expanding the city’s footprint.
Find out more: https://multiroofs.nweurope.eu/
Our role in the project
TBC
Funding
This project is funded by Interreg North-West Europe (NWE), a European Territorial Cooperation programme aiming to support a balanced development across the area, making all regions more resilient, and contributing to a better quality of life and well-being of all NWE citizens.
