Getting it right: water management and landscape design

Guest post: Claire Thirlwall is the director of landscape architecture practice Thirlwall Associates. She specialises in river restoration and water management, and also works on more traditional landscape architecture projects. Here, Claire outlines the pitfalls and opportunities presented by water in landscape design and construction schemes.

Water, and more precisely how you manage that water, can be make or break on a construction project. From the water falling on the roof of each building to flood water rising up through the drainage network, dealing with water within your site can be a real challenge.

“Sensitive SUDS” for alleviating flood risk

The past decade has seen destructive floods throughout the UK. With the future set to get wetter, there’s a greater urgency to upgrade flood defence systems and implement the latest drainage technologies and techniques to protect homes, infrastructure and lives.

In the news

The past decade has seen widespread flooding in the UK, almost year-in year-out. Some of the most notable floods occurred in:

• 2000 – the autumn of 2000 was the wettest since records began with almost 10,000 homes flooded throughout England and Wales, causing £3.5 billion worth of damage.
• 2007 – the wettest May to July since records began was recorded in 2007, when the UK experienced further severe flooding.
• 2009 – in November 2009, flooding in Cumbria resulted in catastrophic damage to homes and infrastructure, with the town’s vital Northside Bridge collapsing.

SUDS resources and publications for designers

Designing sustainable drainage systems, whether urban or rural, requires a flexible approach. As with most construction projects, there is no formula. Rather, it is down to the skill and creativity of the designer to come up with a solution to each problem.

As landscape architect Sam Shaw of Ian White Associates advised me: “there is no one definite way to do a sustainable drainage system, as the design will depend on site location, the capacity of the scheme overall, ground conditions and other site-specific factors. There are a range of solutions, from fully urbanised below-ground storage to open, purely rural designs”.

Legislation

In England and Wales, the requirement for sustainable drainage systems is now part of by legislation – in particular, the Building Regulations Part H, which requires that where practical surface water drainage from any building development be drained, preferably to a soakaway or infiltration system. If this is not possible then the next preferred option is to drain to a watercourse, with connection to a sewer as the last choice.

The UK riots: can we really blame architects?

In August this year, sporadic rioting took place in cities up and down the country, starting in London and quickly spreading north to Liverpool and Manchester. The rioting progressed from a reactionary ‘protest’, to opportunistic looting and vandalism. And so began a short-lived stint of national soul searching, asking why and how, before moving swiftly onto who: other than the perpetrators themselves, who is to blame? Parents, our deficit-cutting government, social networks, and even the bankers were amongst the first to be held responsible, until urban planners, designers and architects were once again put under the spotlight.

Looting of a Primark store in Peckham, South London

As the rioting moved north from London, Building.co.uk contributor Ike Ijeh highlighted the correlation between society and architecture in his article The UK Riots: Is Architecture Irrelevant? Architects, he says, “have a clear social responsibility to improve the built environment and nourish a collective sense of citizenship and community.” But can we really blame architects, urban planners or designers?

“Designing out crime”, street furniture and soft landscaping

Urban designers have the tricky task of balancing security with civic life. Creative product design can help. In the right hands, innovative products make public spaces safer by weighting them against antisocial behaviour and more serious crime. And they can do so without creating bristling, draconian, fortress towns.

Security versus liberty

In the process of reconciling urban planning theory with urban planning practice, “events” have a knack of interfering – a point made in our post looking at this summer’s riots in the UK.

Similarly, Vancouver’s Director of City Planning, Brett Toderian, recently explained how the events of 9/11 led at the time to a familiar urban planning dilemma, writ large:

Brilliant bridges – UK engineering

If someone asked you to pick your favourite bridge in the world which one would you pick? The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia or maybe you would pick something a little closer to home?

Companies throughout the UK have been producing stunning, technologically advanced bridges for hundreds of years, from The Iron Bridge in Coalsbrookedale, to more modern constructions such as the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. Infact, you could say that the UK has been a leader in bridge construction and design since the Victorian era.

On graffiti in the urban space

The question of graffiti is an easy one for many working in council maintenance departments. It is a public nuisance, and to be prevented or removed as quickly as possible. This is an important requirement for many organisations, loking at the industry for anti-graffiti paints and coatings, and graffiti removal products and machinery.

The culture and politics of graffiti art is discussed at Graffiti.org, but since bookmarking the site I can’t now view it, as our firewall blocks it due to ‘criminal activity’. Tagging and offensive slogans are an eyesore for most people, other those that write them, and it’s hard to argue against this sort of graffiti as anything other than criminal vandalism.

However, there is a grey area with graffiti artists who put considerable time, effort and materials into their pieces. The work below, painted on derelict buildings in Brick lane, arguably brightens up the area. Whether it is a pleasure or an eyesore is a matter of aesthetics and taste.

The need to make urban water systems sustainable | video lecture

Part of University College London’s Lunch Hour Lectures.

Given by Dr Sarah Bell of the UCL’s Environment Institute

There’s also a 3 minute mini version available.

And if you haven’t got time for that than here’s the executive summary:

The big problems
- Overuse of water in cities in the developed world puts huge pressure on ecological systems and is not sustainable.
- The lack of basic sanitation and clean drinking water supply in cities in the developing world poses significant health risks

The solutions
- Widespread use of waterless sanitation (compostless toilets for example)
- The recycling of water for use in sanitation systems (rainwater harvesting for example)
- The redesign of appliances and houses to use less water, and, by implication, change the way we live

Dear, green places: The regeneration of the Clyde waterfront in Glasgow

Glasgow is recognised for its expansive green spaces, with over 90 public parks throughout the city. The name Glasgow actually derives from the Gaelic word ‘Ghlaschu’, meaning “dear, green place”. So, in light of the current regeneration of the Glasgow Clydeside, what efforts are being made to ensure that Glasgow does not betray its leafy, green heritage for the sake of modern buildings and contemporary streetscapes?

The Glasgow Clydeside has changed dramatically over the past fifty years or so. Once lined with shipping sheds and frequented by paddle steamers, Broomielaw in the heart of the city is now home to Glasgow’s International Financial Services District (IFSD), where the still expanse of the River Clyde is reflected in the glass and steel of modern buildings.

The £7.76 million Broomielaw public realm regeneration project, completed in 2006, uses high-quality granite and Italian porphyry paving, as well as bespoke stainless steel street furniture and feature lighting, to reflect the cotemporary aesthetic of the newly built IFSD buildings. Cyclepaths, walkways and public art were also integrated into this space to enhance its usability, and 400m sheet piled quay wall was stabilised for better flood protection.

Three years on, the £6 million Squiggly-Bridge was constructed to connect the Broomielaw public realm and the Tradeston public realm (which was completed at the end of 2009). The wave-shaped bridge facilitates new means of access to the IFSD from accross the river, and provides opportunities for people to sit and observe the hustle and bustle of the city by the eerily quiet banks of the River Clyde. The contemporary aesthetic of these public spaces is dabbled with greenery: rectangular grassed areas and well pruned trees have a contemporary edge to mirror their surroundings.

Innovation in street furniture

For older people

After the rain

1. For older people
Butters Innovation has worked closely with Jarrow based company Miko Engineering to launch a new range of outdoor seating designed with the ageing population in mind at Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health.

The newly designed seats help the elderly overcome problems faced when seating is too low, uncomfortable or difficult to use when walking with sticks or other aids.

2. After the rain
Turn the handle on the side of the bench and the seat will rotate to expose the dry side of the seat, and you will be able to sit down without getting wet. Designed by Sungwoo Park.

Back to the future

Out of the pavement

3. Back to the future
The WALL AG timescope lets the viewer gaze through a telescope that shows the past as well as the future. Viewers see the scene before them in different decades and states. The boundaries that separate the present, past, and future are dissolved. With timescope, history becomes alive and the future is just the blink of an eye away.

4. Out of the pavement
POP-UP is a result of a collaboration of Carmela Bogman and Rogier Martens. It can be pumped out of the pavement by local residents, and after use it can be lowered back into the pavement.

By using several sheets that can be fixed at any height, the choice is up to you whether you want to create a bench, a stage or a lounge area. The possibilities are endless. The Pop-Up blurs the boundaries between public and private.