PROJECTS

Berghoewe Community Gardens

LOCATION: Somerset West, South Africa

SIZE:  3900 m2

SCOPE: Water retention features

Neighbours at Berghoewe community gardens have been developing a communal food forest and a vegetable growing area for almost 10 years. However, these gardens are located in the water shadow of the surrounding residential developments. As a result of this, the gardens have been starved from the natural catchment area. Most of the water in the catchment area falls now on hard surfaces and roofs and it is drained away through the stormwater reticulation. The purpose of this project is to provide water runoff from hard surfaces as well as some of the waste water to improve the land hydrology and boost the growth of the food forest. A series of infiltration features are included in the design to divert and infiltrate stormwater from the driveways as well as to infiltrate grey water from bathrooms.