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As the biggest construction project in Europe the environmental impact of the Olympic site engaged multiple organisations including ecologists, landscapers architects and soil scientists.
A critical requirement of the ODA was for the supply of highly-specified, recycled soils. Freeland Horticulture was one of only a few companies in the UK that was able to meet this specification, and at the same time produce a range of topsoils that would support a wide variety of plants.
The construction of a 10,000sq m park on the roof structure of the Jubilee station and retail mall at Canary Wharf presented a challenge that required careful consideration and detailed design.
The requirement was for significant volumes of a variety of topsoils suitable for the planting of tree species ranging from Dawn Redwood, Flowering cherries, Swamp Cypress, Evergreen Oak and Zelkovas as well as open grass areas containing nearly three thousand ornamental grasses and shrub beds of approximately fifteen thousand ground cover Cornus ‘Kelseys Dwarf. Technical constraints meant that standard topsoil could not be used due to its weight; however the soil would need to be structurally strong enough to avoid compaction.
Freeland designed and supplied a solution through specially blended topsoils that were lightweight, structurally robust and contained the correct chemical and nutrient composition to support the varied plant life in the park. Both subsoils and topsoils were extensively tested off site, to allow the building of a soil zone. This allowed water to penetrate into the subsoil and prevented waterlogging of the rooftop landscape.
Chavasse Park has been described as 'the jewel in the crown' of the Liverpool ONE development. With an area exceeding 20,000sq m the parkland, sited on top of a 3,000 space carpark and shops, is one of the UK’s largest urban and rooftop gardens.
Working closely with Freeland’s in house soil scientist, the construction team was able to review the possible options and develop a lightweight construction fill with a layer of specially blended topsoil which possessed specific physical and chemical parameters to meet the demands of a rooftop landscape. During the project 500 tons of soil was used, eliminating the need for a large quantity of expensive lightweight roof top soil which brought a significant cost saving for the developers.
The Eden Project, as a landscape scheme, created a unique set of topsoil challenges as it required the ability to house plants normally found in Tropical and Mediterranean climates within the UK.
Eden is now the home to many foreign plants, ranging from small to very large and generally they would not survive the UK climate or our soils.
In order to create an environment representative to the type of climatic conditions required by some of these specialist plants, the key would be to construct very large green houses designed in such a way as to be an architectural work of art.
Freeland became responsible for the design of a number of soil specifications that would ensure that the foreign plants used for the project would take hold and thrive. This involved selecting waste mica sand from the adjacent English china clay works and combining varying organic sources at different rates to recreate the media which would be representative to the soils in countries the plants originated from.
It took over nine months to assess the soils and conduct basic grower trials. The different blends of soil were selected in conjunction with Reading University. It was then the project moved from research to full production of the soil blends.
Freeland moved production staff, screening plant and equipment to Cornwall to blend and create 100,000m3 of soil in the adjacent quarry. This was then moved and placed within the domes.
The Oakhill House project saw the renovation and conversion of a country house (originally built in 1804) into brand new offices.
A number of topsoils had to be created to meet with the ecological demands of the project. These ranged from multipurpose soil to low nutrient soil for wild flowers. Free-draining, sand-based root zones were also supplied for the extensive lawns.
The Oakhill House project saw the renovation and conversion of a country house (originally built in 1804) into brand new offices.
A number of topsoils had to be created to meet with the ecological demands of the project. These ranged from multipurpose soil to low nutrient soil for wild flowers. Free-draining, sand-based root zones were also supplied for the extensive lawns.