Marino Cell Brings Hidden Stormwater Function to Courtyard in Dundee, Scotland

Telephone House

Number of Marino Cells: 960
Stormwater Capacity: 13,000 U.S. gallons (49 cubic metres)
Installation Date: July 2026
Contractor: Anderson Civil Specialists
Engineering Consultants: Blyth & Blyth

Project Overview

Telephone House, a former commercial complex in Dundee, Scotland, is being refurbished as student housing, with its interior courtyard transformed into a mixed-use outdoor amenity space. Once complete, the courtyard will include open grass, pedestrian footpaths and two trees, providing residents with a functional green space at the centre of the redevelopment.

Beneath that landscape, 960 Marino Cell frames provide nearly 13,000 U.S. gallons of stormwater capacity (49 cubic metres). The project originally began with Silva Cell in mind, but as the design developed and stormwater management became the primary priority, Marino Cell emerged as the better fit — showing how DeepRoot’s range of green-infrastructure solutions can evolve alongside a project’s needs.

Pre-excavated courtyard space (left) and an AI rendering of the final green space courtyard with Marino Cell at work underground (right)

From Silva Cell to Marino Cell

The two courtyard trees were the original driver behind the underground green-infrastructure design. Silva Cells were initially considered beneath the surrounding footpaths, where they could provide uncompacted growing soil for the trees while using the system’s open void space to help manage stormwater. As the design team studied the courtyard more closely, however, it became clear that the trees would have access to ample open soil beneath the grassed area and could establish healthy root systems without an extensive soil cell network beneath the paving.

With the trees’ soil needs addressed through the open landscape, stormwater storage became the project’s primary underground objective. DeepRoot’s sales and technical teams worked with the designers and engineers to reassess the site and guide the project toward Marino Cell. Silva Cell is fundamentally a tree-and-stormwater solution, while Marino Cell is a stormwater-and-tree solution. At Telephone House, that distinction mattered.

DeepRoot’s long history designing infrastructure for trees, soil, and stormwater meant the team could recommend the system that best served the project rather than forcing the original concept to fit. With complementary solutions for different site priorities, DeepRoot is uniquely equipped to help address a wide range of green-infrastructure challenges.

READY FOR THE NEXT STORM

Marino Cell prepares the courtyard for peak runoff before the next major rainfall begins

Ecologically Functional Green Space

Rain falling directly onto the courtyard’s grassed area will move through the soil and enter the Marino Cell chamber below. Additional runoff from surrounding portions of the courtyard will be collected through slot drains and routed into the same system. The chamber can then receive, temporarily store, and slow that water before it is released into the downstream storm-drain network.

The result is a landscape that performs two functions at once. Above ground, the courtyard remains dedicated to amenities: lawn, walkways, trees and usable outdoor space for residents. Below ground, a four-layer Marino Cell system quietly adds significant runoff capacity without requiring a visible detention facility, sacrificing valuable surface area, or demanding deep site excavation. The green space does not simply look ecological — it is actively managing water out of sight.

Ease of Install

Anderson Civil Specialists installed the 960 Marino Cells across a 240-cell footprint, stacked four units high. The installation was completed in just two days, with the simplicity of the process exceeding the team’s expectations. One of the reasons why the construction phase went so smoothly is due to the individual nature of the cells, which allows for speedy, flexible installation on site.

Marino Cell layouts also do not need to conform to a perfect square or rectangle. The chamber can be shaped and sized around the site’s boundaries, features, and constraints, allowing the stormwater solution to fit the project — not forcing the project to fit the system.

“The installation was faster, simpler, and more efficient than we expected.”
— Anderson Civil Specialists