Understanding flood resilience – one garden and brick at a time

I had the pleasure of going to the Chelsea Flower Show last week to see Flood Re’s Resilient Garden, which highlighted the role of outdoor space as the first line of defence from rising waters.

One in four houses is currently at risk of flooding, and making small changes to our homes and gardens can significantly reduce the chances of water flowing into our properties, yet most people simply focus on impressing the neighbours by giving their walls a fresh lick of paint.

Developed by Flood Re, along with Dr Ed Barsley and Naomi Slade, the Flood Resilient Garden exemplified how careful design and planting can create spaces that are both beautiful and resilient.

The pioneering garden employed innovative water management, featuring dense planting, water capture and storage, and smart technology.

The garden will be relocated to Howbery Park, Wallingford, and I highly recommend a visit to this excellent example of how the insurance industry can help make the world more resilient to climate change by being more innovative in how it communicates and inspires adaptation.

It was enough to make even me – a woman who is 100% likely to moan about walking like John Wayne the day after she tackles the weeds growing in her own garden – to contemplate becoming green fingered.

In case you missed it, after the Chelsea Flower Show, the garden will be relocated to Howbery Park, Wallingford, and I highly recommend a visit to this excellent example of how the insurance industry can help make the world more resilient to climate change by being more innovative in how it communicates and inspires adaptation.

One brick

For those without a garden, but with a love of building blocks, I urge you to vote for Lego to make a Flood House kit available at major retailers.

The Lego Flood House set has been developed and proposed by Blue Heart and The Environmental Design Studio, as part of the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, to showcase the impacts of flooding on a home plus ways to make it more resilient.

A pair of terrace houses are shown in the set, one that is vulnerable and damaged by the flood water and the other that is flood resilient. The home that is resilient has a variety of elements that help make the house more flood resistant and recoverable.

These measures all help to reduce the impact of flooding and mean that the home can be reinstated with less time, expense, and stress. 

Measures include a flood door, non-return valve, deployable flood barrier, automatic air brick, flood-resilient kitchen units, tiled floor, raised fuse box, sump and pump, solid floor, raised sockets, sentimental items upstairs, wall-mounted television, and modular furniture.

It also features a rain garden – albeit one nowhere near as beautiful as the one at Chelsea Flower Show – disconnected downpipe, water butt, permeable paving, flood-tolerant lawn, tree, and planters.

Basically, the Flood House could reach families far and wide, spreading the word and understanding of resilience one brick at a time so long as 1,000 people show their support for it and push for Lego to produce it and add it to retailer's shelves.  

Education disguised as playtime would encourage the next generation to come together to think critically about the challenges posed by flooding and come up with creative solutions.

Who knew problem-solving – and reducing risk – could be so much fun?