Benchmark Canlon | Why do good buildings in future all need a roof that is "photogenic"?

At the beginning of the century, the image that came to mind when people thought of rooftops was of old-fashioned residential buildings with bed sheets drying on their roofs, or industrial plants with rusty corrugated iron roofs. All company and organization photos focused on the main entrance; no photos paid attention to the building's roof.

But today, things are changing—

With the development of the drone industry and the low-altitude economy, more and more rooftops have become the simplest "landing pads," and even food delivery services can land here. Short video bloggers shoot viral aerial footage from high points in the city, and company employees can play tennis and have afternoon tea on the rooftop. Even the brand image of the entire company, and even the appearance of the city's landmark buildings, are repeatedly posted on short video platforms through aerial footage of rooftops.

The roof is no longer just a "lid" for a building, but its brand-new "face".

Let's talk about why high-quality buildings in the future will increasingly need a roof that is "sky-high and photogenic".

"New residents" from the sky

Drones are going to make use of rooftops

The low-altitude economy is no longer just a buzzword in the news.
The market size of China's low-altitude economy is projected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025 and exceed 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. Drones delivering food and eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) shuttle commuting are transforming from "science fiction" into "everyday life."

But there's a very real problem: drones can't just hover in mid-air—they need a real landing spot.
The best place for this is a building's roof.

By 2026, over 75% of Shenzhen's airspace will be suitable for drones flying below 120 meters, with more than 1,200 low-altitude take-off and landing sites established. Many rooftops integrate drone take-off and landing platforms, loading and unloading areas, and communication equipment; some can handle over 2,000 express deliveries daily. In the future, to realize a 2-hour logistics circle in the Greater Bay Area, the rooftops of warehouses, shopping malls, and industrial parks must be able to accommodate aircraft.

What does this mean?
Roof load standards, traffic flow planning, and waterproofing durability will all need to be upgraded to meet current trends.
The impact of repeated drone takeoffs and landings, the installation requirements for signal equipment, winter snow prevention, and summer drainage—details that were once only a concern for airport runways may now be included in the roof design specifications for ordinary factories and commercial buildings.

In the era of short videos and aerial photography, a roof without good looks is a losing proposition.

If the demand for drones is a hard indicator that "falls from the sky," then the popularity of short videos is a soft power that "shines in from the screen."

Now, when you open Douyin or Xiaohongshu, you can easily find aerial views of shopping malls, science museums, and industrial parks. The beauty of a building is no longer judged by just the entrance on the ground floor, but by the "fifth facade" on the top.

A shopping mall's rooftop garden, a new energy vehicle factory's tidy roof, a science museum's streamlined roof design—these images, displayed for just 3 seconds in a short video, are enough to determine whether users "want to check in" or "believe this company is professional enough."

Even more interestingly, rooftops themselves have become "content production sites."
Bubble parties on the rooftop of a shopping mall in Shanghai, rooftop farms in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, rooftop tennis courts in Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing... these places are natural resource libraries for self-media. A well-designed rooftop is equivalent to equipping a building with a "24-hour free dissemination engine."

For high-end manufacturing, the logic is even more straightforward.
If an aerial view of a lithium battery factory or a robotics industrial park shows an uneven roof, rusty surfaces, and crooked solar panels, what would customers think?

—You can't even fix the roof of your own factory, and you're talking to me about the "safety and controllability" of your products? You want me to believe you're a "high-tech" manufacturer?

Canlon's answer: make your roof a "strategic resource"

In recent years, Canlon has continued to focus on the industrial and commercial roofing sector, innovatively developing and launching the TMP® Integrated Panel system, PMP system, and mirror panel system. While meeting the traditional roofing requirements for waterproofing, corrosion prevention, fireproofing, moisture prevention, and thermal insulation, these systems can also accommodate high-level requirements for photovoltaic installation, wind uplift resistance, extreme cold resistance, and even acid rain and salt and alkali resistance.

• Wind resistance: Passed a dynamic test at 6300Pa, equivalent to withstanding a Category 17 typhoon. When Typhoon Mangkhut passed through in 2024, Canlon's TMP Integrated panel project withstood the storm reliably.

• Integrated anti-corrosion and waterproofing: The exposed polymer waterproof membrane is tightly bonded to the coated steel plate and physically welded to seal, eliminating leakage at the joints and rust channels;

• Load capacity: It can easily support people and solar panels;

• Full life cycle warranty: We dare to promise 25 years without renovation, matching the service life of photovoltaic power stations;

• Visually appealing: The surface is smooth, clean, and modern, making it a clean and powerful "corporate business card" from an aerial perspective.

Canlon's new definition of roofing is: it must be able to bear heavy loads, be waterproof, look good, and have a long lifespan—and also be able to catch drones, make short videos go viral, and support the brand image.

This is not just a slogan, but a hard requirement imposed on the construction industry by the combined effects of the low-altitude economy era and the short video dissemination era.

For developers, industrial park owners, and business owners, choosing a roof type essentially means answering a question:
Do you want your building to be renovated every five years, or do you want it to continue creating value for you for twenty-five years?

The answer is already written on the roof.