Fulham Court, Fulham

Bin storage units provide an effective replacement for waste chutes.

Groundwork London were commissioned by London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to develop and implement a masterplan to regenerate the landscape of two adjoining housing estates, Fulham Court and Barclay Close. The aim of the project was to improve physical and visual connections between the two estates, which are of differing grains and building types, and the surrounding private residential streets.

The £1.3m project included improving access throughout the estate and parking for vehicles and bicycles, external bin enclosures, delivering general public realm improvements including paving, landscaping and upgrading LED street lighting. As well as CCTV upgrades and several feature areas including courtyard gardens, a play area improvements, a multi-use games area and a central green square connecting both estates.

Faced with the challenge of storing an increased number of recycling bins the metroSTOR PBM bin store was specified by Sanchia Dunn at Groundwork London; chosen due to its practical and effective design. The PBM bin store encloses your four-wheeled waste and recycling bins leaving no space for refuse to be deposited outside of the receptacle provided. With a number of door aperture and access control options available, the prevention of unauthorised usage or contamination of recyclables containers, associated anti-social behaviour and costly unscheduled waste removal visits made this the idea product for the regeneration.

Works included the installation of external bin units in place of internal refuse chutes and were undertaken by Bower Contracting through the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham framework contract with Mitie.

The new facilities fitted seamlessly into the environment, creating an appealing and low physical profile solution. Following the success of this project London Groundwork are specifying the metroSTOR PBM bin stores again on other projects and London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham have placed an order for a mobility scooter charging station.

“During 2015 and 2016 Groundwork London undertook a landscape refurbishment of an estate in Fulham, our client was Hammersmith & Fulham Council and we were acting as landscape architects but we also undertook community engagement.

One of the biggest problems on this estate were the refuse storage areas; brick buildings with roofs. These areas had become real magnets for anti-social behaviour and environmental issues including fly-tipping, spillages, bad odours and rats. Deliberate fires had been started, and rough sleepers had been reported. The buildings also took up a lot of room with their large footprints and blocked out the light from the streets.

The metroSTOR waste stream enclosures were recommended by another of our clients (a housing association) based in South London; I thought the units would work well in this area and the client agreed to use them.

They have made a huge difference to the appearance and management of the area, especially when compared with the previous units. I’ve had positive comments from a range of council staff – the Project Manager likes their appearance and the Contracts Manager of the refuse contract says they work well for the collection team and he has had no reported operational problems.

In terms of management, the way the units are designed makes it really easy to visually check and report fly-tipping in and around the units. If there are spillages they can easily be cleaned by washing through the open space at the bottom. The opening at the front for everyday use makes it possible to lock the bins away (and prevent them moving) between collections.

The design is fantastic; they’re compact and low level, so don’t block views, light or footpaths. The timber panels are light in colour and look attractive, but don’t mark easily and have resisted an attempted fire with very little damage (and no repairs required). They were much more cost effective than other options that were considered.

These have been so successful that I’ve recommended them to another client (another housing estate refurbishment for a local authority).” Sanchia Dunn, Senior Architect at Groundwork London