HydroPlanter

Problem Addressed
This solution was sourced in response to UKGBC’s Innovation Challenge: “How can existing buildings be made more resilient to climate change, with as little disruption to their occupants as possible, by 2030?”
This solution aims to reduce downstream flooding, free up capacity within our surface and combined sewer network, and effectively treat water within medium and low risk areas. The HydroPlanter was primarily designed to intercept water as close as source as possible, to decrease the volume of water from entering the sewer network. By diverting rain water from hard surfaces (roofs, roads, pavements etc) via the vegetated planter greatly reduces the peak flows during a storm event.
Verification & Case Study
The effectiveness of a proprietary SuDS system can be simply verified by building the appropriate solution into a hydraulic modelling program such as MicroDrainage. There are also additional benefits which are not so easy to put a tangible number to such as the ecological and aesthetic benefits of a well-designed piece of Green Infrastructure. Very few other elements within our public realm improve over time and bring exponential benefits to our communities.
Case study: The HydroPlanter was chosen as a solution in Grosvenor Yard Car Park in Newmarket to deal with an attenuation requirement of 33 cubic meters based on a 1:30 year event. Cheryl Froud from West Suffolk County Council, complemented the final look of the scheme and recommended for future use. Cheryl highlighted: “They have made the car park more appealing, broken up all the tarmac etc.”


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