Part of the British Garden Centres Group, Hornsea Garden centre near Hull has benefitted from significant investment in improved facilities fro customers. Development work included improvements to its customer parking area.
Charles Stubbs, British Garden Centres Group Director, explains: “The garden centre buildings themselves were added to with an extension, in response to growing footfall. We also saw an opportunity to improve parking facilities in anticipation of increased customer numbers.” “The car park was previously a combination of grass and gravel and we wanted something more robust. We’ve created a tarmac car park with capacity for 300 cars, as well as moving the vehicle entrance to the front of the garden centre.”
Integral to the project is sufficient drainage capacity: Clark-Drain supplied 100 metres of Polymer Concrete Linear Drainage Channel, along with 24 Road Gullies. Made from high density polyethylene, the 450mm diameter gullies offer a light yet incredibly strong alternative to concrete units, while still meeting requirements of the Highways Authority Product Approval Scheme (HAPAS). Crucially, they also require less manpower during handling and installation.
The Clark-Drain products were all supplied by Turnbull; the area’s largest independent merchant. George Lowther at Turnbull was involved and says this: “When we heard about the drainage requirements we had no hesitation in recommending Clark-Drain. They are very competitive on product quality, service, expertise and pricing.” “For the Hornsea Garden Centre development, they had exactly what the project called for. This included a requirement for heavy duty drainage channels to withstand large numbers of vehicles each year. The area is chiefly used for cars but also needs to accommodate larger vehicles.”
In fact, although Turnbull recommended Clark-Drain, the contractor sourcing the products was no stranger to the company. Work on the new car park was carried out by Craig Sutton, who says: “I have used Clark-Drain’s Drainage Channels many times and would endorse them to anyone. It’s just a good all-round product that has never failed me.”
“The new gulley system is just as impressive. It saved me and my team time on installation compared to alternative systems that we’ve used in the past. I’ll definitely be using them again on future projects.”
The project completed on time in autumn 2016 and is just one example of the success being enjoyed by British Garden Centres. The company has recently added East Durham Garden Centre to its family and has plans for further expansion in the years to come.
WHY THESE PRODUCTS WERE CHOSEN
Linear Drainage Channels:
Hard wearing – Polymer concrete has greater tensile strength and resistance against corrosion than traditional concrete, while ductile iron rails also ensure long-term durability.
BS EN1433:2002 – Load handling performance is rated at 90 tonnes, making it durable with strength to spare in an area used by a range of vehicles.
Narrow slot grating – A grating slot width of 6mm was chosen, reflecting the fact that a car park is a pedestrian area where care is needed to ensure that high heels will not enter the channel.
Road Gullies:
Quick installation – The Gullies are lighter and easier to handle than concrete alternatives, so installation is simpler, resulting in savings of time and cost.
Supplied with grates – For added convenience, Clark-Drain can offer packages comprising Gullies and compatible Ductile Iron Gully Grates, which are certified to BS EN124:1994 for a D400 (40 tonnes) load rating.
Flexible connectivity – The Gullies are supplied ready for direct connection through a 160mm outlet to PVC-U plastic pipe systems. An adaptor is also available for connection to 178mm clay and twin wall drainage systems.