Project
Alcester Primary Care Centre
Project Information
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Overview
Rain gardens have been used extensively at Alcester Primary Care Centre as part of the Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) ‘treatment train’ to encourage biodiversity and create a place for patients to explore and use. The site has both interpretation and seating to enable maximum use, with a ‘formal’ frontage giving way to a more ‘naturalistic’ series of spaces, including a ‘physiotherapy trail’ and ‘mini-orchards’.
At the beginning of the project, it was clear an innovative approach should be used to encourage biodiversity and create a flourishing environment for patients to explore. The concept of a ‘SuDS treatment train’ to deal with stormwater was developed between the client and the design team, creating a care centre that is one of the first of its kind in the UK.
Alcester Primary Care Centre is a CIRIA Susdrain case study.
Rain gardens have been used extensively throughout this landscape. Rain gardens are shallow depressions that allow rainwater to be collected. These are laid out in a bold sinuous form, with yellow flag, pond sedge and willow herbs planted with a tessellated pattern of native wetland edge species. We were able to ‘trial’ an early prototype of the ACO SuDS Swale Inlet at Alcester. This has since gone into production.
