C A S E S T U DY
Our AtkinsRéalis design team alongside United Utilities has ensured that these projects have delivered enormous value through very modest capital outlays, spread over ten projects. United Utilities say that 'These projects have delivered both environmental and social benefits… The rainbow arch hasn’t been done anywhere else in the country, it’s a really exciting thing to see... It’s just one of these projects where I can say genuinely it’s worked really well.' Simon Ward CMLI FLI is Technical Director at AtkinsRéalis.
3.
We’ve helped to reverse the trend of schools being dominated by hard standing. These interventions also improve wellbeing for all staff, pupils and visitors, by creating a series of more relaxed, informal environments. New tree and shrub planting helps to cool down the grounds and provide shade. The planting will also bolster biodiversity and help to absorb pollutants. Most directly, the projects often delivered improved and more useable school grounds. Sports pitches, areas of green open space and hard standing, which previously experienced flooding or waterlogging, were brought back into use, giving schools extra breathing space for play and recreation. 'The kids couldn’t really play on it… The biggest benefit to us… [is that] every year it can now be utilised in the right way,' a SuDS for Schools video relays* 'The feedback from them [pupils] coming out here and playing, and being able to use the area is great, there’s lots of smiles on their faces.' The lessons learned (as set out above) are now being extended and embraced on a wider scale as a model to deliver similar projects for other water authorities and government departments such as Southern Water and Severn Trent. This includes a current pilot SuDS for Schools project in Belfast under the joint Northern Ireland Water’s (NIW) and the Department for Infrastructure’s (DfI) ‘Living with Water’ programme. Through relatively minor investments, water utility companies can save huge amounts in the long term by reducing and preventing flood events in their networks, whilst providing multiple social and environmental benefits.
26
3. School grounds have been enhanced visually and functionally with beautiful dynamic interventions. © AtkinsRéalis
4. New rain gardens and tree SuDS pits enable formerly flooded areas to be used for outdoor play. © AtkinsRéalis
5. Rock-strewn rain channel for water play. © AtkinsRéalis
6. Decorative and ‘fun’ctional rain chain design as a focus within a courtyard. © AtkinsRéalis
As a company we have used this SuDS for Schools programme as an exemplar in webinars on the wider benefits of SuDS, and implemented this best practice within our wider portfolio of projects. The programme has been seized upon by many of the schools to explore the opportunities of using the work to educate its pupils in climate resilience with real, ‘on the ground examples’. At the start of each project, the goals and benefits were discussed with the school and a toolkit of methods was established, including the potential for incorporating the works as outdoor classrooms. We’ve been told, 'Teachers are really finding it an easier space to work in… and to learn. … It’s marvellous what you have done, it’s a great idea.'
6.
4.
5.
*All quotations are taken from SuDS for Schools video, July 2022, commissioned by United Utilities
