CASE STUDY: HOW GRASS PAVERS ADD GREENERY, SUPPORT OVERFLOW PARKING
IQVIA UTILIZES NDS GRASS PAVERS TO ADD PARKING, REDUCE RUNOFF AND PRESERVE GREENSPACE
Tech company IQVIA’s headquarters in Durham consists of an 11-story office building surrounded by greenspace. Due to high-demand events that the company hosted on occasion, the company was in desperate need of an overflow parking area as its current parking deck could not accommodate the influx of additional attendees for these larger events.
The biggest hurdle was to identify where additional parking could go without disrupting the existing greenspace since the complex’s structures and parking deck took up nearly the entire usable space. The company did not want to eliminate its lush greenspace for the sake of creating a parking area that was only needed for occasional events. In working with NDS, the landscape contractor, Landscape Technology Inc., learned of a solution that they hadn’t previously considered – reinforcing a designated area of grass to accommodate occasional vehicular traffic.
NDS DESIGN AND PRODUCT SOLUTION MAXIMIZES GREENERY
The plan NDS provided added overflow parking, minimized potential water runoff and reduced costs when compared to adding hardscapes or concrete to the site. NDS EZ Roll grass pavers quickly became the solution that solved the company’s concerns since it features hexagonal cells that create a strong, drivable surface and prevent soil compaction. This allows for healthy grass growth while still handling high load capacities. Vehicles would not leave ruts in the grass or muddy up its appearance while driving or parking on it for the occasional corporate event.
The product comes in 4' by 150' rolls – which were delivered to the jobsite on a skid and included all anchors and stakes needed.
The contractor needed approximately 40 rolls to complete the job and estimates installation time was saved due to the ease of rolling out the pavers. The large footprint of permeable pavers provided over 200 parking spaces, an area of over 24,000 sq. feet, eliminating the need for more hard surfaces onsite that would require runoff to be mitigated.
An additional benefit and time saver is that the area’s original soil was able to be re-used as a base to fill the cells of the paving rolls. No soil had to be hauled away, or other fill material brought in.
PAVERS OFFER IMMEDIATE RESULTS AND INSTANT USE
After installation of the pavers, the team chose to use South Carolina Bermuda sod over hydro-seeding since the grass sod was able to take root quickly, providing a near instant green area for the office site. The IQVIA team was extremely satisfied to have a solution that immediately blended into the landscape while creating additional overflow parking that could be used right after placement.