Tupelo Bend Low Impact Development
Johns Island, SC
This commercial office park on Johns Island was conceived and developed by New Leaf Builders and completed in 2017. RDE provided comprehensive site planning, stormwater design, and integrated architectural design with Holden Design Shop. The native topography and sandy soils of the site naturally absorbed all rainfall, so the site was designed to completely contain the stormwater runoff generated from the developed site to match the natural conditions. Stormwater runoff from the site is stored, treated, and infiltrated using a distributed network of bio-retention basins, and some of the roof runoff is reused through a commercial system of large cisterns. The low-impact site development responds to existing site qualities, preserves numerous large trees and understory areas, and maintains existing flow patterns while meeting local stormwater regulations in a creative way.
Notes about Tupelo Bend:
A walkway bridges over one of the bioretention basins to an office building
Breaking office space into four buildings gives the site a residential feel and allows for a distributed network of bioretention areas
Colorful cisterns store rainwater for re-use
Permeable asphalt was used in the parking areas to increase stormwater infiltration