System design brief

Around the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum large areas have been paved which impede the efficient drainage of rainwater during heavy downpours. This results in large puddles around the Museum, causing damage and access issues. The local council of Amsterdam required a solution that would allow infiltration of the excess rainwater on site, an installation that would cause minimal disruption to this area of national importance and that could work around existing infrastructure.

The Natural Aquifer SuDS System

Due to the continual building and paving around the Museum, there was an increase in localised flooding and overwhelming of the local drainage infrastructure. The project was scoped by the council of Amsterdam to provide a retrofit solution to minimise the water from the site entering the drainage system.

The council of Amsterdam selected the Hydrorock Aquifer Water Infiltration System to provide a green and almost maintenance free (clearing sand and foliage traps) solution for this historic site.

Hydrorock Aquifer Blocks were placed in modules across the site, creating a unified aquifer system able to buffer rainwater in an hour and infiltrate this volume over 24 hours.

Rainwater enters the Hydrorock Aquifer Blocks via street vents that are equipped with sand and foliage traps to prevent blockage. Due to the dispersed system, there was minimal disruption to the area, as the installation could be achieved piecemeal.

Hydrorock benefits

By selecting the Hydrorock Natural Aquifer SuDS System, the drainage engineers were able to design a SuDS solution for the project that:

Our Hydrorock Solutions team will help you find an effective, sustainable water management system for your project. We support you from design right through to installation.