Commissioned by New York City’s Departments of Environmental Protection and Parks & Recreation, Croton is the city’s first water filtration facility and addresses the growing need for sustainable water strategies.

It illustrates leading green practices for water management, creating a benevolent civic project underpinned by detailed technical tactics. The 14 ha site brings together landscape and building design strategies, together with storm water systems that are designed to treat and deliver up to 30 per cent of the city’s water supply.

Taking reference from the shape and natural filtration process of the water lily, which catches rainwater, filters it for its own use, and returns the excess to the pond below, the plant’s circular footprint collects and redistributes ground water through a process that is predominantly gravity-fed.

Above ground, bio-swales and moats create unobtrusive basins for water collection and filtration, as well as wetland systems that include plantings to enhance the natural habitat nearby.

As well as giving over 1 trillion litres of cleaned water, the project includes a nine-hole golf course, driving range tee boxes and a club house for community use.