For a new £60 million hotel development in Bournemouth, the management and control of surface water required a proven long-term solution which could work on a challenging sloping site. AquaCell Prime, a geocellular stormwater management unit from Wavin, the UK’s leading manufacturer of plumbing, rainwater and drainage systems, was up for the challenge.
Set to be the first five-star hotel in Bournemouth, the new 13-storey Hilton Hotel has been designed by Cube in association with White Ink Architects and consists of a 172-bedroom hotel with 14 exclusive residential apartments above. In addition, there will be an 8-storey 120-bedroom Hampton by Hilton complex and 45 apartments with a 3-storey deep, underground car park and associated landscaping. In order to manage surface stormwater on the sloping site, main contractor McAleer and Rushe Group worked with Wavin on a design which incorporated the AquaCell Prime system to help reduce the risk of flooding.
Manufactured from specially reformulated, recycled material for trafficked and deep applications, more than 600 AquaCell Prime units were specified below a restaurant, terrace and entrance café area in order to create a 120m3 cellular attenuation tank for surface water in the event of any excess surface water run-off due to torrential rain.
AquaCell Prime has been specifically designed for use in areas subject to regular traffic loading such as car parks. For the challenging sloping site, the units were installed at a depth of between 1.2m and 1.6m and then clipped together to create a stepped, two-tiered tank. A concrete slab was then installed above the attenuation tank, ready to complete the café terrace.
This was one of the biggest drainage schemes undertaken by McAleer and Rushe so it was paramount we had a seamless system such as OSMA that was available off the shelf. One brand, one product was perfect for us and ensured a speedy installation and no integration issues.Mike Guiry
The BBA-approved AquaCell system is available in a range of four units of differing strengths which include AquaCell Eco, Core, Prime and Plus which can be mixed and matched to create the optimum installation for a range of applications including landscaped or trafficked for either shallow or deep applications.
All AquaCell units have proven lateral and vertical loading performances and provide an effective answer to managing excessive rainfall. Quickly assembled on site, the individual units can simply be clipped together or, for additional strength, are designed so they can be laid in a ‘brick bonded’ formation for enhanced stability to form the required volume. Once in place, the units are then wrapped in either a geotextile sheet or geomembrane depending on the type of installation required.
In addition, Wavin also provided the OSMA UltraRib 225mm and 300mm structured wall pipe and OsmaDrain 160mm drain pipe to tackle the foul and surface water drainage. The number one choice for plastic sewer systems for installers and specifiers, both have a minimum design life in excess of 50 years and are kitemarked under BS EN 13476 parts 2 and 3.
With the landmark Hilton set to open for guests in the summer of 2015, Wavin’s AquaCell Prime system and the OSMA UltraRib gravity sewer system will ensure that this leading hotel chain will have a proven stormwater and drainage solution, ensuring effective flood protection for the long term.