ONE tech smart building in south Warwickshire is not going to fall victim to flooding anymore.
A holiday lodge next to the river on the Avon Park estate near Stratford has become the first fully flood adaptive building of its kind in the UK.
It has been retrofitted with a ground-breaking Flood Adaptive Platform system designed to detect and react to flood conditions by automatically elevating above the rising water.
The pioneering multi-purpose mechanical jack system, developed by Yorkshire-based Flood Technology Group over the past 12 years, offers potential for safe and sustainable development in areas of flood risk
Thanks to the new system, the entire structure of the Avon Park lodge can be automatically lifted to a maximum height of 2.1 metres above the ground, and remain there until it is safe to return to ground level.
The technology, which has been rigorously tested in flood environments, has also been successfully applied to residential housing, highlighting its ability to protect people and their property from the threat of flooding, which it is feared could increase due to climate change.
Avon Estates managing director Nic Allen said: “We’re really excited by the potential that the Flood Adaptive Platform offers, particularly for riverside holiday parks like ours, where the close proximity to the water is a major draw for people.
“This type of technology really is a game-changer for the mobile home and holiday lodge sector.”
Simon Gilliland, chief executive of the Flood Technology Group, said its flood adaptive technology offered local authorities and developers huge potential for development in areas of high flood risk, which would previously have been considered off-limits.
He added: “This means that it can also play a part in attracting inward investment to areas where greater flood resilience is needed, as well as helping to negate the need for costly, carbon heavy flood mitigation work.
“We believe that harnessing the power of this kind of technology is absolutely key to adapting and thriving in our changing climate, both here in the UK and globally.”
