The £30M student accommodation campus development at York University forms an exciting and environmentally considerate design, blending in with the natural surroundings.
The eco-friendly buildings are arranged around a series of intimately scaled landscape spaces, connected by pedestrian routes to encourage interaction of the 600 on-site students.
The Challenge
The surrounding grassed areas and pedestrian routes to the student accommodation needed to be sympathetic with the building, but capable of providing high load bearing capacity for Emergency Fire Vehicle access and Cherry Picker access for building maintenance.
The Solution
Advanced Turf grass reinforcement mesh system was specified by the Landscape Architect, BDP Manchester, for its ability to meet the client’s sustainability requirements, providing a natural and discreet, free-draining (SuDS Source Control) reinforced grass solution. The necessary high load bearing capacity for HGV loadings was easily achieved by Advanced Turf, whilst retaining the distinctive and flowing landscape design features.
The Advanced Turf Mesh Element rootzone blend, selected turf and fertiliser were supplied and installed over a designed sub-base profile. After a short establishment period the ATS400/B System was able to provide an aesthetically pleasing, structurally sound compaction and rutting resistant grassed surface. The lawn areas provide a sustainable, safe and pleasant environment where students can spend their leisure time with no visible structures or trip hazards, minimising Health & Safety risks. The free-draining ATS rootzone also enables surface water to drain into adjacent swales for localised infiltration and reuse.
The ABG Service
After assessment of the ground conditions and project application, a full design, construction and installation proposal was provided for the sub-base, ATS mesh reinforced soil and turf profiles. An ABG technician was on site to oversee installation.
ABG Advanced Turf System (ATS) is a plastic reinforced rootzone system designed to reinforce grass surfaces designed for regular traffic, grass roads, amenity and landscaped areas.
