Bridget Joyce Square in White City won two major prizes on 23 November at the Landscape Institute Awards.
The project (part funded by the Mayor of London) transformed a potentially dangerous and ugly road into a beautiful, safe community space. At the same time, it helps improve water quality and reduce flood risk through its Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).
Why is sustainable drainage so important?
London’s 150-year-old combined sewer system was designed and built for a smaller, less urban city. Modern challenges like an increasing population and climate change mean that London has outgrown its drains and sewers.
2016’s London Sustainable Drainage Action Plan presented how the Mayor can use innovative solutions to reduce flood risk while also providing additional green space and promoting biodiversity.
Bridget Joyce Square
This project was part of LB Hammersmith & Fulham’s highway regeneration scheme which needed a way to manage rainwater in the most sustainable way possible. Bridget Joyce Square sits between a school and two playgrounds on what used to be a part of Australia Road (W12). The road was at high risk of surface water flooding.
The completed project helps to reduce surface water runoff by slowing the flow (often the cause of sewer flooding) down to less than a litre per second.
Awarding winning
The project won the ‘Adding Value Through Landscape’ and the ‘President’s Award’ presented by the author Bill Bryson at the Landscape Institute. The same project also won a prize at the Institute of Civil Engineers Awards last year.
Merrick Denton-Thompson (President of the Landscape Institute) stated that the scheme delivers “solutions to so many problems in a way that can, and should be, replicated nationally.”
Read more about Sustainable Drainage System projects happening across London as part of the Mayor’s ambitious plans.