LID Study - Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton

The Occoquan Facility, Adaptive Reuse Area G, is a 55-acre redevelopment and part of the former Lorton Reformatory in Fairfax County, Virginia (now known as the Laurel Hill Property). The Occoquan Facility was formerly the minimum security complex for the prison.

The site is located within the headwaters of Mill Branch inside Mill Branch water-shed, a part of greater Occoquan watershed. The purpose of the redevelopment is to turn the site of the existing Lorton historic buildings into a world-class art facility to be used by the citizens of Fairfax and neighboring counties. Initial redevelop-ment plans for the area, known as the Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton, was sponsored and directed by the Lorton Arts Foundation, Inc.

The initial site plan incorporated the traditional ‘pipe and pond’ approach to storm-water management. The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD) and ATR Associates, Inc., were awarded a Chesapeake Bay Water-shed Grant by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to reassess the planned redevelopment project employing Low-Impact Development (LID) principles, and to develop an alternative stormwater management plan that incorporated LID concepts and techniques.

ATR Associates identified LID opportunities, developed the LID design storm and calculated target infiltration amounts, and designed LID technologies to reach the infiltration goals. We performed a study cost estimate and found that for this redevelopment project the cost of implementing LID practices was no more costly than implementing 'traditional' stormwater management facilities.

Back to Stormwater Management

Go to Watersheds