ACO designs surface water drainage system

A high performance drainage system from ACO Building Drainage is ensuring the effective removal of all surface water from landmark regeneration of PaddingtonCentral.

PaddingtonCentral, Development Securities' redevelopment of the former goods yard adjacent to the railway station, is a site defined by transport infrastructure.

The first phase of the project to be completed was set around an area called 'Sheldon Square'.

With particular emphasis on natural planting, lighting and public art, the strong visual qualities of the landscaping are carried through in every detail of the scheme.

For surface water collection, a bespoke, all stainless steel grated channel system designed by ACO Building Drainage was chosen.

Its team was able to offer experience in meeting the tight tolerances and consistent, high quality finish needed on a system of this size.

A second supplier was chosen to provide the subsurface connections through to the site's attenuation tanks and mains discharge point.

Securing the connections between the two systems though proved more challenging than anticipated, which was resolved by using a single supplier on the second and final phase.

Named 'One Kingdom Street', the second phase of the PaddingtonCentral project is a ten story office development that sits, in-part, above a two floor ancillary zone that will eventually accommodate the London Crossrail.

Access to the offices is via an extensive deck structure that leads from phase one.

The deck allowed the creation of a series of dynamic planes that intersect the central axis corridor from Sheldon Square.

The design coupled with the restricted depth of the deck and the introduction of planters and temporary landscape elements meant that the performance demands and manufacturing tolerances on the drainage system would be much tighter.

In order to achieve the installation and performance targets for phase two an integrated surface and below-deck drainage system would be essential.

After assessing both suppliers from phase one, ACO Building Drainage was selected due to its manufacturing resources and design expertise.

The installed system comprises more than 200m of 155mm wide grade 304 stainless steel channel fitted with locked-down Heelsafe gratings.

The majority of the system is rated FACTA Load Class A for pedestrian use and increased to Load Class D across the service roads.

Seven upstanding stainless steel planter drains tie into the surface water system through special slab penetration units.

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