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UCD Stormwater Runoff Research featured in Nicola Haines Team at this years bloom festival

Wednesday, 5 June, 2024

Coming Home to Nature – Large Show Garden

Puneeta Sreenivas a PhD student working with Sarah Cotterill in the UCD School of Civil Engineering is evaluating a material called BlueLay for its potential use in Sustainable Drainage Systems. The material was supplied by an SME ((opens in a new window)https://www.selel.co.uk) who wanted to investigate its potential to reduce the quantity, and improve the quality, of urban stormwater runoff. 

We show how rain water can be captured to create rich environments for wildlife and people. We will also show biodiverse roofs, houses for a range of birds, habitats for insects and the importance of planting new woodlands for wildlife. Our hope is to show how environments that are good for nature are also good for people.

Nicola Haines - Bord Bia Bloom Interview

This material was used in a green roof in a show garden designed by Nicola Haines for Fingal County Council at Bord Bia Bloom. The garden includes a number of SuDS features and was awarded four medals - gold, best in show, best construction and sustainability. Nicola said the material came up in the discussion with the judges and they were “very interested” in it. 

There’s an interview with Nicola here:

You can learn more about the garden here:

UCD College of Engineering and Architecture

Room 122 & Room 126, UCD Engineering and Materials Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
T: +353 1 716 1868 | E: eng.arch@ucd.ie