In our Bromley project, we combined the two principles to design a compact rain garden and harvesting system. We were approached to re-design the rear patio of a previously remodelled house, The Spider.

We had a tight budget and high ambitions. The proposal is to design a new concrete deck with recycled railway sleepers embedded within, while the paving stones of the side alley were re-used to build a rain garden. The rain garden extends onto the lower garden to form a bench and a flower bed. The rainwater from the house is collected into pipeworks that run under the concrete floor and into the rain garden. A small overflow pipe re-connects back to the sewer to avoid the risk of flooding.

The result is a compact but very deep, capacious rain garden filled with diverse plants and flowers. Hundreds of litres of rainwater are diverted and slowly seep into the ground and will help replenish the water table.