Zhang Lin’s roof-top villa may be demolished

Professor Zhang Lin, who built a rock-covered roof-top villa on top of a Beijing high-rise, may have to demolish his house, reports from China say.

The villa, surrounded by rocks, trees and bushes, sits on top of a 26-storey building in Beijing’s Haidian district.

State-run China Daily says it was built without the proper permissions.

Residents of the building have told Chinese media they fear the construction of the roof-top house has made the high-rise unsafe.

China Daily identified the owner as the head of a state-run traditional medicine chain.

Citing a statement from Haidian urban management officials, it said that government approval for the house had not been obtained and so a compulsory demolition order had been filed.

Prof. Zhang Lin had 15 days to present documents proving the structure had been approved, the paper said.

Newspaper reports said other residents in the tower block had complained that the villa had damaged pipes and the structural integrity of the building.

The rocks surrounding the sprawling villa are said to be fake but the grass and trees are real.