Workers at the Atrium building site at 800 Yates Street are putting the finishing touches on a unique form of urban landscaping.

Called bioswales by the architect, the trench-like boulevards completed this week contain native plants that will need less irrigation than traditional landscaping. Stormwater flowing down the gutter is diverted under the sidewalk to the gardens, reducing the load on City infrastructure.

The Atrium's landscaping serves double duty as the planted boulevard diverts rainwater from stormdrains. Photo by Robert Randall © VibrantVictoria.ca.

The boulevards that wrap around the office building are part of a building rainwater management plan that includes collecting runoff to irrigate rooftop trees. The filtered water will then flow down an interior waterfall to a fountain in the centre of the atrium. Excess water is collected in an underground cistern to be re-used for irrigation before being flushed out through the storm drains.

The rainwater treatment plan is the  first of its kind in Downtown and is being treated as an experiment by City of Victoria planners and engineers. If successful, it may be replicated in future developments as a way of pre-treating rainwater before it is washed into the sewer system.

The system was designed by landscape architects Murdoch de Greeff Inc. under the supervision of main architects D’Ambrosio Architecture + Urbanism.

Track the progress of the Atrium building here on VibrantVictoria’s discussion forum.

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