Mary Mountain has ascended to new heights with her latest show of flower power.

The roof of the garden designer's home in Loftus, east Cleveland, is green - planted out with plants that withstand drought.

It is an idea which took root with design award judges who describe the self-build house as "in every way an exemplary scheme" and a visionary building responding directly to the sustainability challenge.

The rooftop flowers are one of a number of environmentally conscious features included in Whitecliff, a project started in June 1999 and completed earlier this year.

The house has been judged a winner in the scheme run by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council along with the £10m renovation and extension of grade II-listed Gisborough Hall into a 70-bedroom hotel and conference centre and the renovation of the Jacobean Sir William Turner's Almshouses at Kirkleatham, Redcar.

Three other east Cleveland schemes won commendations. The competition was organised by Roger Higgins, the council's officer for urban design, in order to get developers, architects and the public to think imaginatively about design.

He said: "These six schemes all show that well thought-out development can improve the quality of the borough."