Savage Branch Environmental Site Design

Innovative stormwater management was the driver behind the transformation of a library’s landscape into a thriving, ecologically functioning, and engaging space for learning.

When officials in Howard County, a highly urbanized municipality, planned to renovate the Howard County Library System’s Savage Branch, they envisioned it as a model for best practices for stormwater treatment and a place to support their Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum. Through a design-build contract, Biohabitats transformed the branch’s landscape from a concrete and asphalt-dominated site to an engaging space that enhances local ecology, beauty, and learning opportunities.

Biohabitats crafted a design that distributes stormwater to multiple treatment points and uses vegetated systems, porous paving, and cisterns to store runoff and filter pollutants from the water before it flows off-site. These techniques help clean polluted water and restore natural flow patterns. A unique site feature is a multi-tiered “stormplanter,” comprised of interconnected cells containing native wetland plants and lined with bench seating. The planter captures stormwater from the building’s roof, filters it through the wetland cells, and allows clean water to soak into the soil. A hand pump provides visitors of all ages the opportunity to draw filtered water from the planter and send it along a concrete flume reminiscent of the nearby historic Savage Mill.

The landscape includes native rain gardens and porous pavers. Structural soils support the pavers while nourishing an urban tree canopy that shades the parking lot and plaza.

TAGS

• Design-Build
• Ecological Restoration