Landscaped podiums and pedestal paving

A landscaped podium is a communal outdoor space, serving adjacent residential or commercial buildings.

Well-designed podiums become a new ground-level oasis, leaving users oblivious to the fact that beneath their feet are several floors of commercial or residential amenities or car-parking.

Pictured is London’s Barbican Centre, one of the world’s pioneering podium gardens first laid out in the 1970s. For the multi-award-winning refurbishment, Pritchard & Pritchard supplied and installed all the infrastructure for flower beds, including 1000 cubic metres of substrate. Read the Barbican case study

Landscaped podiums create recreational spaces for people living and working above street level.

Raised courtyards or courtyard podiums use a combination of hard and soft landscaping to deliver welcoming communal spaces, as with this beautiful example at the Essex Brewery in Walthamstow, London.

P&P’s landscaped podium service includes sustainable drainage systems, waterproofing, paving, decking, seating, flower beds, raised planters and planting.

Podiums are usually intensively planted with a mix of plants that may include trees, shrubs, herbaceous and flowering plants, sometimes lawns, wild-flower meadows and water features.

Pedestal paving (slabs on adjustable pedestals) marries perfectly with ‘blue’ podium sustainable drainage roofing systems (SuDS) which help:

• Total weight of the paving
• Improve drainage
• Heat dissipation
• Speed of install
• Perfect levelling (even if the roof has uneven surfaces)
• Future flexibility (as the slabs can be easily lifted, replaced or removed)
• Meet planning targets on sustainability, such as London’s Sustainable Design and Construction SPG

Pritchard and Pritchard’s paving team are the UK’s leading installers of pedestal paving and blue roof systems.

Like any ground-level garden, if left alone, nature will soon take over. Different types of podiums require different maintenance regimes. Pritchard & Pritchard recommends the following maintenance plans:

• Podiums with low maintenance extensive or sedum planting require four visits to inspect and tend per year.
• Podiums with intensive or mixed planting require monthly visits to inspect and tend.
• Podiums with lawns require fortnightly visits to inspect and tend.
• Maintenance requirements include: inspection of the paving, drainage and irrigation systems; removing detritus, fertilizing; weeding; pruning; replacement planting or seeding; and pest control.

All your podium questions answered by the industry experts:

• What is a landscaped podium?
• How are they constructed?
• What is pedestal paving?
• Are podium gardens compatible with blue roofs?
• What are the benefits of a landscaped podiums?
• How do they reduce energy costs of a building?
• Do podium gardens help getting planning permission?

Consult our essential FAQ.