Urban Raingarden Design Masterclass

Led by recognised pioneers and leaders in the field of SuDS since 1996, this in-person masterclass explores the principles of bioretention raingarden design - raingardens designed to manage polluted runoff from urban hard surfaces. Through an interactive training experience we’ll highlight the core requirements and the potential to deliver valuable co-benefits through urban raingarden design.

The day will describe the origins of the ‘raingarden’ idea and the development of ‘bioretention’ in Portland Oregon and other US exemplars as well as looking at great examples in the UK. It will discuss design criteria, critical detailing, silt management, the importance of soil specification, suitable planting and the potential obstacles to good design, including implications for management.

The course assumes delegates have a basic understanding of SuDS principles as described in the SuDS manual.

About the trainers:

Bob Bray : Bob has been a Landscape Architect in private practice since 1978 with extensive experience in the Housing, Commercial and Retail sectors. During the 1990s the practice refocused on environmental design and the management of sustainable landscapes. Since 1996, and the promotion of Sustainable Drainage by the Environment Agency, Robert Bray Associates

has developed an integrated environmental approach to managing rainwater that delivers cost-effective drainage solutions that exploit the potential in SuDS for amenity and habitat enhancement.

With over sixty completed SuDS projects, many of which are considred exemplars, it is natural that Bob is called upon to deliver conference presentations, expert training and guidance documents for councils, water companies and major environmental charities.

Bob is one of two directors at Robert Bray Associates, sharing his passion and wealth of knowledge with our busy studio.

Kevin Barton FLI : As Managing Director at Robert Bray Associates, Kevin has led and overseen the design and implementation of many successful and award-winning landscapes.

Kevin has been invited to present on climate resilient landscape topics at conferences and professional forums in the UK and Europe. He has also delivered lectures and workshops to universities in the UK and Czech Republic.

Kevin is a Design Council Specialist Expert for climate resilient design and SuDS, and has provided expert SuDS training and guidance documents to a number of councils and NGOs. Kevin also delivers the national Designing SuDS and SuDS Evaluation training on behalf of CIRIA.

Judith Puckmayr : Judith has been working as a Landscape Architect for over 19 years in several landscape architecture practices both within the UK and Austria. During her professional career she has worked on a diverse range and scale of projects from large-scale urban regeneration masterplanning projects to small- scale detail design schemes within a wide range of sectors such as housing, schools, health care, mining landscape regeneration and river and floodplain restoration. Judith has led the design and implementation of a number of successful landscape schemes integrating SuDS.

She also delivers advanced SuDS Design training on behalf of CIRIA, and has delivered bespoke SuDS training to the Transport of London, Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks & Highland Council. Judith has contributed to the production of the SuDS Design & Evaluation Guide (sudsguide.uk) for twenty local authorities and London Boroughs.

Host or Publisher Robert Bray Associates Ltd