Hounslow High Street Quarter is an impressive, modern residential development in central Hounslow, London, specifically designed and located to encourage wider town centre regeneration. The development offers a new destination to live, eat, drink, and shop and includes a variety of restaurants and shops, as well as the large Hounslow Cineworld multiplex. The £210 million project boasts 528 homes – a substantial 41% of these being desperately needed affordable housing – comprising a mix of shared ownership and affordable rental units. The development is located just 10 minutes from Heathrow Airport. Hounslow Central and Hounslow East tube stations are only a 5-minute walk away, providing residents with excellent access to all parts of London and farther afield.
The High Street Quarter Development
Hounslow High Street Quarter consists of four modern apartment complexes: Thornbury, Kempton, Hanworth, and Syon. These surround a contemporary public realm area, which includes new cafes, restaurants, and shops, as well as planted borders and trees. The focal point of the development is without doubt the imposing, 27-storey Kempton apartment complex, which due to its impressive height, offers magnificent views over the whole of West London, as well as the beautiful Surrey countryside stretching out beyond.
The Irrigation Project
Access Irrigation provided the design and supply of the irrigation system – watering various roof terraces located on a range of levels on all four of the apartment complexes, as well as planted borders located within the ground level public realm area. Each area was treated as a separate system, with each system being split into several smaller zones, to enable efficient watering for each zone.
All zones were fully automated, using a Hunter NODE-BT battery operated Bluetooth controller for each system, which was housed in an underground valve box, along with solenoid valves. A solenoid valve is a device comprised of a cylindrical coil of wire, the housing, and a moveable plunger. When an electrical current is introduced, a magnetic field forms around the coil, which draws the plunger in. Thus, when activated, a solenoid converts electrical energy into mechanical action – enabling each solenoid to water an individual zone according to the times of the solenoid valve open and closure set by the controller.
Irrigation for the apartments
The apartment complexes and the public realm area comprised planted borders, trees, and lawns. The planted borders and trees were watered using highly efficient Permadrip Pro dripline – border dripline (standard 50cm dripper spacing) being used for the planted borders, and tree dripline (much closer 15cm dripper spacing) being used for the trees, which require more water. The lawns were watered using advanced, Hunter MP rotator popup sprinklers which feature unique, multi-trajectory rotating streams. These sprinklers ensure water is delivered at a steady rate, thus greatly reducing run off whilst also providing excellent watering uniformity and substantial water savings.
Irrigation for the roof terraces
For the roof terrace irrigation systems, the underground valve boxes were buried in the planted borders on the terraces, whereas the valve box serving the ground level public realm area was located in a secure plant room.
To ensure full compliance with the Water Regulations regarding backflow prevention, DB valves were used for all dripline zones, and Cat 5 pump & break tank sets were used for all popup zones. To enable the system to remain completely invisible, underground MDPE supply pipe ran from the outlets of each underground valve box to take-off points to connect to the dripline on the surface to water the planted borders and trees.
The Apartment Complexes
Thornbury
As the Thornbury roof terrace was relatively large, this was split into 4 zones, using a 4-zone controller. The first 3 zones consisted of planted beds, and the fourth zone comprised trees.
Kempton
The Kempton roof terrace contained planted borders and trees – these split into two separate zones, using a 2-zone controller.
Hanworth
This was a large roof terrace, so was watered in 4 zones, using a 4-zone controller. As this terrace was of substantial size, it contained a small lawn, which was watered as an individual zone, being watered by popup sprinklers. Planted borders comprised the second and third zones and trees comprised the fourth zone.
Syon
This was the smallest roof terrace, containing planted borders and trees – each watered as a separate zone, using a 2-zone controller.
Ground level public realm area
This area contained several individual borders, each including both planting and trees, including two which each included a small lawn. This area was watered in 3 zones (using a 4-zone controller – 4th zone not used), the first zone watering the planting, the second watering the trees, and the third watering the lawns.
The Result
Our project has resulted in green and lush residential and communal spaces for all to enjoy, greatly enhancing Hounslow High Street Quarter. We are delighted with the result and are proud to play our part in helping a modern, global city like London to develop and thrive.
Images courtesy of Barratt London
