Water feature

Visitors to the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Kensington Gardens will enjoy its spectacular effects unaware of the below ground water management solution provided by the sustainable drainage market-leader SDS. A rainwater cascade from the Pavilion’s arching tree-like roof canopy is a central feature of this year’s design by Burkina Faso architect Diébédo Francis Kéré.

During peak summer storms, rainwater is designed to run off the Pavilion’s expansive roof into an open central courtyard, so an underground attenuation solution using GEOlight® geocellular storage from SDS was designed by the engineering project team from AECOM.

The roof canopy is supported by a central steel framework and covered with a transparent twin-wall polycarbonate skin. With the roof pitch varying between 5° and 9°, the rainwater is conveyed quickly through a funnel before dropping into the centre of the courtyard.