From a humble
community centre to an award-winning eco-friendly hub, ACO Water Management
helped to improve the sustainability credentials of Gamlingay’s local facility
with a bespoke SuDS solution.
The community centre
in Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire decided to create the ‘Eco Hub’ – a unique
eco-friendly facility providing a variety of meeting spaces for community
activities and local classes, alongside a self-contained corporate suite.
Situated conveniently
on the Cambridgeshire-Bedfordshire border, the Eco Hub would be open daily to
members of the community completely free of charge. Therefore a car park of a
suitable size was essential to guarantee easy access to the facilities on offer.
Sustainability was a
crucial factor to consider throughout the whole project. The premise of the Eco
Hub was to create a facility that was not only beneficial to the environment
but also to the local community as well. From the initial build right the way
through to the final product, the Eco Hub was economically constructed, and
designed to operate in a highly efficient manner upon completion.
With an extensive
portfolio of sustainable water management systems, ACO was the perfect for the
Eco Hub project. ACO specified 648 sqm of its ground reinforcement system
GroundGuard, creating six parking areas for over 40 cars.
Much of the building
materials were recycled from the original building and those that were new were
taken from renewable sources and this was very much the case for GroundGuard
which offers the complete SuDS solution.
GroundGuard is a
permeable, gravel-filled stabilisation system and is, crucially, made from
recycled plastic mesh. The system is over 90 percent porous, resulting in a
free draining carpark with a highly efficient rate of surface water run-off.
The Eco Hub also filled the system with locally sourced gravel – making the
finished installation even more environmentally friendly.
Another added benefit
of GroundGuard is that it eliminates the expense of having to install a
supplementary drainage system, helping to further reduce costs for the highly
sustainable hub.
Following completion
of the build, Eco Hub was fitted with a variety of renewable technologies
including solar panels, ground source heating and a rainwater harvesting
system. In fact, this unique eco-friendly facility is acknowledged as being one
of the most energy efficient community building in the country.
ACO GroundGuard is
suitable for a wide range of applications including paths, drives, parking
areas and access routes.
