Project Details
Project
Clayton Hotel
Location
Bristol, England
Date
March 2022
About The Project
The latest 4-star hotel to open its doors in Bristol’s Old City area has a fascinating history. The Clayton Hotel sits just within the medieval walls of St Johns, on the site of the original Grade 2 listed Everards printing works, first built in 1900.
Visitors are greeted by a gloriously colourful, tiled Art Nouveau frontage, designed by W.J. Neatby, the Chief Designer at Royal Doulton. His design depicts several facets of Bristol’s history; the female figure in the centre representing Light and Truth, and the two figures to either side, printing and literature, for which Bristol was becoming increasingly known.
Situated in the heart of the old city, outdoor space is practically non-existent, so plans were drawn up to utilise a small space on the lower level at the back to create a rain-forest inspired sunken garden, planted with mature tree ferns, raised beds and seating.
The other side of the street, which still serves as a parking area, was also taken care of. In fact, additional root growth capacity was created there by applying the Tree Parker tree pit system. This allows tree roots to grow under the paving without nuisance and without concern.
What was done
Having a good working relationship going back over ten years, Bath-based landscape architects MacGregor Smith had no hesitation in specifying Green-tech’s lightweight intensive topsoil and subsoil for all the planting beds in the sunken garden.
For the tree pits at ground level, the decision was taken to use Green-tech’s Green-tree Amenity Tree Soil; a fertile, load bearing structural tree soil from Green-tech, specifically developed to BS3882:2015 for use in the urban environment. Having a naturally open structure, Green-tree Amenity Tree Soil allows for compaction without sacrificing any water percolation or aeration properties of the soil.
To finish off the tree pits, MacGregor Smith specified the Fortress tree grille tray. This is designed to accept block paving to ensure a seamless transition to the surrounding paved finish. Each pit included an irrigation pipe topped with Green-tech’s Mono Relief Piazza aluminium filler cap, which was set flush into the paving.
To ensure that the tree ferns in the sunken garden received adequate irrigation, the decision was made to fit a fully automated Rain Bird irrigation system, also from Green-tech. The system was custom designed for the area and featured micro-sprays and drip-lines, along with the all-important pressure regulators and solenoids. The pressure regulators are critical to any automated system, as they ensure that each emitter or drip line provides the same amount of water no matter how far down the line from the water source they are.
Images: MacGregor Smith
