Australia Road's Bridget Joyce Square Wins Prestigious Award

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Community Impact award second accolade for Australia Road oasis

Bridget Joyce Square, an innovative flood prevention project creating a ‘green oasis’ for residents in the heart of White City has won a prestgious award.

The square in Australia Road was opened last November by Hammersmith & Fulham Council and features special water-retaining basins and permeable paving to reduce flood risk, while improving amenity and biodiversity with a variety of planted trees and shrubs.

It also has an open space for hosting community events.

Now the square has been named the Engineering Project with best Community Impact award at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) London Civil Engineering Awards 2016

“This win is great recognition for the residents and officers who worked together to come up with this scheme,” said Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents’ Services. 

“We were shortlisted alongside some vast, multi-million pound engineering schemes, so the competition for the award was intense. We now plan to work with residents to introduce similar SuDS projects elsewhere in H&F.”

This week, the Hammersmith Society announced that Bridget Joyce Squarewas among four winners in its annual Environment Awards, being given the Nancye Goulden Award for the best smaller scheme in the borough.

The square is named after the late Bridget Joyce, a childcare worked who dedicated more than 50 years of her life to help children at the Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre.

The system is designed so that during storms, the maximum amount of rainfall is retained on the site, rather than flowing into the combined sewer system. Rainwater from the school roof and other buildings will be guided via channels into the planted basins and raingardens.

A small ‘balance wall’ winds its way through the plants
and trees in the basins to provide a low-maintenance play feature for children and there is also an open piazza-type space for the community to host events, such as the annual W12 Festival.

A smaller SuDS scheme exists in Kenmont Gardens, and the council says there are more planned across the borough.

June 14, 2016