ACO Technologies Freestyle grating design service was chosen for municipal infrastructure upgrades to the German town of Itzhoe.

One of Itzehoe’s highlights is the “Feldschmiede” – a pedestrianised area which is lined with a, number of shops, bars and restaurants. As part of ongoing works to improve the town’s aesthetic, the local authority decided to replace the aging 1970s wastewater and storm water infrastructure underneath the Feldschmiede and combine it with essential upgrades to the area’s broadband cable network.

As part of the remedial work, Hamburg-based consultants Kontor Freiraumplanung, worked with the town’s civil engineering department to create an unmistakeable water management grating that reaffirmed Itzehoe’s proud identity. The design honours the River Stör, which flows through the town, and features three sturgeon motifs ‘swimming’ along the channel’s grating.

It was created using ACO Freestyle, a design service which enables end-users or architects to create bespoke grating designs, which ACO then manufactures from coated or uncoated ductile iron to sit on ACO drainage channels.

The bespoke ACO Freestyle channels formed part of a new ‘castle street’ style paving along the Feldschmiede, which payed homage to Itzehoe’s twin town of Cirencester in the UK. The design comprised of natural clinker bricks laid in a traditional herringbone pattern, interspersed with sleek ACO MultiDrain channels, topped with the town’s ACO Freestyle ‘sturgeon’ grating.

Bettina Bühse, Head of Itzehoe’s Building Control Department, said: " We’ve already had brilliant feedback on this new feature of our wonderful town from both residents and visitors alike.”