Water & Ecosystems: Delight in your environment – Tim Bennetton, Tim Bennetton Architects

Careful consideration of water is now a critical part of design as we confront increasing floods and droughts due to climate change.

In today's episode, we move on to our next sustainable design theme - Water and Ecosystems.

We'll investigate the design of a small extension to an old timber home located in suburban subtropical Brisbane. This project has a very challenging site with overland flow and stormwater flooding issues. I talk with architect Tim Bennetton, the director of Tim Bennetton Architects, who will share the inside story on his Yeronga House project.

Tim has successfully transformed this problem site into a valuable asset that not only brings joy to the homeowners, but also provides much needed habitat for local flora and fauna.

Today we'll learn about:

• The importance of retaining stormwater and rainwater on site and appreciating water as a very valuable resource.
• Ideas that improve the resilience of cities to heavy rainfall and flooding, while also improving water quality and biodiversity, and
• We'll also cover a wealth of other insights from Tim's years of experience.

Australian Architects can claim formal CPD hours the time they spend listening to the podcasts.

MORE INFORMATION

Find everything you need on the Renovation Collaborative website.

www.renovationcollaborative.com.au

• PODCASTKey points summary, timestamps and resource links
• FREE RESOURCESTranscript edited into clear Q&A.
• CPDAustralian architects can find more information on CPD, and
• COURSESEleven easy to read courses demystifying the entire home design and construction process.

KEY POINTS SUMMARY

1. This site was affected by overland flow or water that runs or ponds on the site after rainfall. Overland flow may occur before the stormwater enters a creek, or when the stormwater leaves the creek as floodwater, or in some cases when stormwater rises to the surface naturally from underground. Overland flow typically occurs in natural low lying drainage paths. And as we discover today with good design, overland flow can become a positive asset because water is a valuable resource, particularly into the future as droughts increase.

2. Urban development in low lying stormwater flow channels leads to multiple problems such as:

• Increased flood levels, meaning that buildings take up space causing water to pile up, increasing flood depth and velocity,
• Reduction of natural absorption processes, meaning that a natural soft landscape of grasses, trees and other vegetation absorbs water and slows its movement, whereas hard surfaces and buildings prevent this from occurring, and
• Increased impervious surfaces, meaning that urban built surfaces like concrete, asphalt and roofs cause rapid and increased runoff. When it reaches the local waterways. The additional fast forward moving water causes erosion of banks and destruction of waterway ecosystems.

3. Sponge cities are urban areas designed to absorb,...