Hurstmere Road Upgrade

HurstmereRoad on Auckland’s North Shore, has undergone a $12 million upgrade. Reducing vehicle traffic to welcome pedestrians and cyclists, creating alluring seating areas, enhancing the ‘beachside vibe’ with warm textures and tones, and creating bigger, greener planting areas has bought life and light to the once dark monotone street.

Behind the facelift, the critical focus of the project was to improve environmental performance. This was of utmost importance to ManaWhenua, Auckland Council, and the wider community. Increasing green permeable spaces has clear benefits on social wellbeing, pollution control, flooding protection, and water conservation, all of which are issues of growing concern in our towns and cities . For the green devices to perform optimally and ensure design outcomes are achieved, the right filtration and growth media (soil) is critical.

Scape Spec’s TP120, RG240, and MB100 engineered soil blends were the chosen media for this project. These media blends are specifically designed to provide the optimal foundation for water-sensitive urban design outcomes.

• RG240 was installed in roadside rain gardens. This engineered media catches stormwater run-off from roads and paved areas, removing unwanted, chemicals, sediment, oil, bacteria, and heavy metals. Preventing them from arriving at and polluting the neighboring beaches.
• TP120 installed in tree-pits, supports the growth and stabilisation of native trees. These large specimen trees reduce our carbon footprint as well as slow down and control stormwater following heavy rainfall.
• MB100 garden mulch, stabilises soil temperatures and retains moisture to reduce stress on plants. It is an environmentally friendly mulch made from a by-product of the New Zealand timber industry.

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Each of these blends is developed with locally sourced natural resources, extensively tested to ensure performance, and is subject to strict quality assurance and control measures to ensure consistency of blend and outcome.

With a strong soil foundation, water-sensitive urban design is done simply but effectivity in this metropolitan space. These green spaces along with many other impressive upgrades breathe new life and energy into the town centre, creating a space where the public can relax and enjoy in a lower impact, happier environment.