UK-GBC CASE STUDY DeepRoot, Derby Station

KEY FACTS

PROJECT TEAM DETAILS

Project name: Derby Station Interchange (Midland Road)

Location: Derby
Classification: Large Scale Community Infrastructure
Type: Transit station
Size: 4,000 square meter catchment area
Client: Derby City Council

Design: Derby City Council

Installation: Ringway Infrastructure Services

PROJECT SUMMARY
The city of Derby has been in the midst of an ambitious urban regeneration project since 2003, a key
aspect of which has been the development of a public realm strategy that increases pedestrian freedom
and enhances major civic spaces such as the Derby Railway Station. As part of the plan to update the
rail station, the City Council wanted to create an innovative urban landscape to foster tree growth and
provide on-site stormwater management.
The design team elected to approach these challenges concurrently by using Silva Cells to contain nearly
fifty cubic meters of a bioretention soil underneath a traffic island at the new bus interchange. Five new
Silver Birch trees are planted in the traffic island to intercept and evapotranspire rain water. Below the
ground, the traffic island is filled with a two-layer deep Silva Cell system that serves as a storage zone
for runoff from the stations roof and surrounding area. This new drainage system combines existing
flows and runoff to provide attenuation for all proposed storm events while also supplying a regular,
natural irrigation supply to the new planting areas on the traffic island.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Water Efficiency:
The sites existing gullies, pipework and silt-trap/interceptor were decommissioned and a new carrier
drain and channel was installed. The new carrier drain is 225mm in diameter, approximately 100m in
length, and collects storm runoff from an impermeable area of approximately 0.22 Ha. At its lower
end, the carrier drain enters a chamber with a flow control and 500mm silt trap sump just inside the
planting area. The ongoing flow is restricted by means of a 100mm pipe that results in a buildup of
water within the chamber. A 225mm diameter high-level outlet allows dissipation of the flows into
a slotted pipe, and from here into a dedicated filter zone. From here the flows pass into the twolevel soil storage area provided by the Silva Cells. A backfill of angular stone lines the perimeter of
the Cells, allowing water to pass through the soil and stone to reach a 150mm perforated pipe that
provides a controlled outlet from the storage into the existing system where it joins roof runoff from
the existing station building.
The trees and the soil they are planted in over 50 cubic meters - will now help capture rainwater
from a 4,000 square meter catchment area. The new face of Derby Railway Station, with its
modernized entrance and improved facilities, now boasts an innovative subterranean system of green
utilities that permits on-site stormwater management connected to a refined drainage system. For
the city of Derby, visitors and residents alike can now enjoy a revamped entrance into a city that has
welcomed the future of sustainable architecture and engineering solutions.

Waste reduction:
The Derby Station project is reducing stormwater runoff by capturing it on-site using trees and soil.
By absorbing rain where it falls, this project is reducing the strain on the sewer system, avoiding the
spread of non-point source pollution, and reducing the need for separate landscape irrigation.

Biodiversity:
The five Silver Birch trees that have been added to the Derby Station Interchange are being supplied
with ten cubic meters of soil per tree far more than an average street tree receives. This will support
their long-term health and longevity, growing trees that calm traffic, enhance the visitor experience of
the station, and create a lasting habitat for urban birds and other types of wildlife.

SUSTAINABILITY ACHIEVEMENTS
The Derby Station Interchange project has achieved an environmental goal that has long been impossible in
heavily urbanised areas: growing large trees and capturing rainwater at source.
Using a Silva Cell modular suspended pavement system, the project designers have created large stores of soil
beneath paving soil that can restore ecological function to a heavily developed site in the form of healthy,
long-living trees that provide shade and cleaner air and water, natural habitat for wildlife, reduced flooding
and pollution, avoided landscape irrigation expense, and by creating a relaxing and pleasant environment for
travellers and residents of Derby.
Increasing the urban tree canopy is one of Derbys stated green goals, and this project is part of that effort. As
stated on their City Centre Eastern Fringes Action Plan, Derby City Council prioritised adding green elements
such as trees, planting, landscaping and potential SuDS schemes to help improve the biodiversity and natural
environment in these areas and creating pleasant links between the railway station and the city centre ... The
aim is to create a new linked strategic green infrastructure corridor for both ecology and people.

LESSONS LEARNED
Example of how green infrastructure (trees and soil) can contribute to managing storm-water from daily
rainfall events
Trees can provide environmental services like flood defence and minimisation of air pollution
Aesthetic appeal
Increased added capacity to the current storm water system
Alleviated the localised flooding in front of the station

The revamping will put people at the heart of the station rather than the
current system which revolves around cars.
Andy Smart, Project Manager for the Derby Midland Station renovation