Building owners and developers are continuing to place increasing value on the roof spaces that every building needs. In urban areas, these roof spaces need to perform their primary function: keeping the building interior dry. In the increasingly competitive real estate market, however, building owners are demanding that the roof space function at a much higher level. Amenity decks have been increasingly employed to differentiate buildings in a vast real estate world in order to draw potential tenants and residents. Some tenants place such high value on these exterior spaces that their management practices revolve around utilizing them. “Walking meetings” that optimize staff time are often the impetus for the design of these exterior spaces. In many instances, these exterior spaces are literally extensions of the building’s interior spaces and functions.

The ideal system to form the basis for an ideal amenity deck would be a waterproofing system that has a long track record of high performance in wet conditions. Amenity decks can incorporate a wide array of elements: pavers, landscape, and structures as well as stormwater management and solar elements as well.