Design Equilibrium 2021 by AIA Atlanta

2021

LIFE CYCLE FORWARD

BRIDGING A DCOMMUNITIES A P T IVE R E U S E SU STAI NABIL ITY & AND BUILDING EQUITY C U LT U R AL P R E SE RVATIO N THROUGH DESIGN

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On the Cover The Works by Smith Dalia Architects

Copyright © 2021 AIA Atlanta. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, reprinted or transmitted without the specific written consent of the publisher AIA Atlanta. Opinions expressed by the authors do not reflect those of AIA Atlanta. AIA Atlanta neither accepts responsibility for errors of content or omissions, nor endorses products or advertisements appearing herein. Design Equilibrium is a trademark of AIA Atlanta.

Designer and Editor Malachi Gordon

About AIA Atlanta A chapter of the American Institute of Architects, AIA Atlanta is a professional organization representing over 1,800 architects and designers in Metro Atlanta. The chapter raises public awareness and provides continuing education, political advocacy, leadership development, and networking.

Contact 50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 109 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 222-0099 aiaatl.org

An adaptive use project in Atlanta's Upper Westside offers a new place to work, shop, dine, and unwind. Photo by Gene Phillips. More on page 56.

Contents Introduction 04

Editor's Note

05 Contributors 06

Letter from the President

Board of Directors

Newly Licensed

AIA Fellows

Programming

Residential Design Awards

Getting Back to Work

The Charles

Architects Roundtable

by Lord Aeck Sargent

22 Vantage

by Niles Bolton Associates

The Ardyn Townhomes

by Office of Design

Natural History

by Historical Concepts

House in the Berkshires

by Choate + Hertlein Architects

Moccasin Creek Residence

by Frances Zook Architect

36 Morningside

by Square Feet Studio

More Mid Century

by Axios Architecture

Practice

Moving in the Spirit

Colony Square

Park Center II

Features

The Works

by Smith Dalia Architects

Designing Equal Access to Atlanta’s Great Urban Spaces

by Desmond Johnson

The Saving Grace of Outdoor Space

by Curt Jackson

Diverging Emerging Professionals

by Heli Shah and Sarah Woynicz

Reconciliation: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice

by Ganesh Nayak

Social Enterprise Architecture: Paradigm & Practice

by Kate Peterson

Less Space, More Life

Will Johnston

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Editor's Note FO RWARD The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor and the COVID-19 pandemic compounded grief and magnified racial inequality around the country. Unemployment skyrocketed as businesses grappled with financial uncertainty and sporadic relief. Following a summer of protests, with an estimated 15 to 26 million people taking to the streets,

AIA Atlanta Director of Branding and Communications Malachi Gordon has served as editor and designer of Designer Equilibrium since 2015. He is also a brand strategist and web designer helping service-based entrepreneurs launch high-end offers and client experiences.

parents of school-aged children compared the risks of in-person learning to the weight of working virtually at home full-time while doubling as parttime teachers.

jobs, and livelihoods dependent upon those of our neighbors. The year also exposed our collective vulnerabilities, thrusting us into accelerated adaptation and flexibility to survive. And with minimal physical human contact in this new virtual era, social interactions had to become more intentional and coordinated.

Staff Executive Director David Southerland Director of Membership and Development Missy Bower

2020 proved how inextricably connected we are, with our health,

Today represents a moment of reckoning, a time for reflection, and a

call for action. In this issue of Design Equilibrium, architects and designers discuss their roles in confronting the ongoing crises of systemic racism, equity, the pandemic, affordable housing, and the future of the profession — all of which are intertwined. Designing an equitable, healthy, and resilient future requires collaboration between architects and the communities they serve. It also requires reassessing values, listening, and getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. It is a unique privilege as a non-architect working at AIA Atlanta to use Design Equilibrium as a tool to bridge the gap between the outside world and the 1,800 members

Director of Branding and Communications Malachi Gordon

the organization serves. The discussions herein highlight the possibilities

Director of Programs Chris Yueh

Malachi Gordon

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

through which design can carry us forward together.

Editor

Contributors

Curt Jackson Curt is a landscape architect project manager at Eberly and Associates and currently serves as the Georgia Chapter ASLA president. He believes every design is unique and begins with understanding surroundings and history. Stylistically dynamic, his designs can be modern or traditional but are rooted in familiar connections and accents.

Will Johnston

Sarah Woynicz, AIA

Will is the executive director of the MicroLife Institute and a thought leader and innovator in the micro-living world. Over the past six years, his organization has enabled policy change and brought acceptance of microstructures in the Southeast through events, pilot projects, and advocacy. His philosophy is allowing people to think outside the box by putting them in one.

Sarah earned a Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in Leadership and Social Change from Virginia Tech. As an architect at HKS, Inc., she works on projects ranging from interior renovations to mixed-use/commercial projects over 500,000 square feet. Outside of work, Sarah is active in the Atlanta Harlequins Rugby team and Virginia Tech Mentorship Network, and is a 2020 graduate of the Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.

Based in Atlanta, Desmond is an architect practicing at the global design firm NELSON Worldwide. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and Master of Architecture from Florida A&M University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively. Outside of the office, Desmond is an active member of the National Organization of Minority Architects, an Architect Licensing Advisor for NCARB, and serves on the AIA Atlanta Board of Directors.

Kate Peterson lives in west Atlanta and writes creative nonfiction. You can find her online at gracious.work

Heli Shah, Assoc. AIA Ganesh Nayak, AIA

Desmond Johnson, AIA

Kate Peterson

Ganesh is a principal at Metier, Inc. in Atlanta, consulting on sustainable design. An architect with over 25 years of varied experience, he won a Corps of Engineers award for excellence. Ganesh has a master's degree from Kansas State University and presently chairs the State Advisory Panel for Special Education in Georgia.

Heli currently works in the Education & Research Studio at CDH Partners, Inc. and is passionate about creating impactful educational spaces for the world's future leaders. She is on the leadership committee of AIA Georgia's Equity in Architecture, AIA Atlanta's Young Architect Forum, and is a 2020 graduate of the AIA Georgia's Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

LE TTE R FRO M THE PRESI DENT

Moving Forward Tracy Carusi, AIA

IA Atlanta, over 1,800 members strong, is a vital

officially launch later this year.

piece of the tapestry that makes up Atlanta's

architectural community. We seek to continue to move the profession forward and provide

effectiveness and teamwork, particularly

better value through our efforts to expand

in building firm culture and employee

design excellence, education, advocacy,

engagement. While this was important

leadership development, and the profession's

before the pandemic, the past year caused

value proposition. In 2020, we were all tested

the profession to become more introspective

to keep putting one foot in front of the other in

regarding employee satisfaction, the case for

the face of health and economic uncertainty and

flexibility, and the very measurable benefits of

enormous social and political shifts. Now in 2021, we

real teamwork. Our profession has not historically

face similar challenges. Still, we've learned to adapt and, in

In 2021, we plan to educate firms on a long, mostly neglected topic: organizational

embraced the idea that success ensues when people come

some cases, leverage the necessary changes for a better result.

together and set aside their individual needs for the good

Our staff and volunteers have learned to be flexible, open, and

of the whole. We want to explore what AIA Atlanta can do

ready to pivot and continue our work on our members' behalf.

to put the powerful knowledge in your hands on building

a committed team more effectively. Parallel to this, we'd

We will continue to offer important educational content

for the profession virtually and, hopefully, in person later

like to serve as a resource for successfully navigating the

this year. Our offerings are expanding greatly in the virtual

transformation coming into a post-COVID workplace.

platform, engaging more non-local expertise and talent, given

the ease of presenting virtually from far-flung places. In the

working for the profession, it has undoubtedly not been

last year, we hosted over 60 educational events. The numbers

business as usual. Strong social and political forces have

of those consuming content have expanded as well, such as

allowed us to look in the mirror and ask, "What is AIA Atlanta's

Architects Roundtable, which brought in record attendance

role in supporting the efforts for justice, equity, diversity, and

in 2020. The opportunity for more inclusivity with a virtual

inclusion?" AIA Atlanta's philosophy has been that we must

format is tremendous.

remain politically neutral, but this question is ultimately not

about politics. It's about endorsing what's right and true.

For the 16th year, the popular High School Design

Although AIA Atlanta has continued the business of

Competition is creating opportunities for Georgia high school

We must continue to explore ways to support all of our

students to immerse in fundamental architecture concepts

members in this movement. You can look forward to seeing

and learn skills that will be useful in college and beyond. The

more programs and conversations focusing on justice, equity,

competition will be virtual and concludes in April. Later in

diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) like the recent Architects

the fall, we hope to bring back Open House Atlanta weekend,

Roundtable, "The Future of Diversity in Architecture."

which offers free public tours of notable and significant

buildings and spaces in Atlanta. In the past, Open House has

public awareness of the profession, providing continuing

drawn over 5,000 participants each year.

education, political advocacy, and leadership development

for our members. However, we can't do this in a vacuum

Last year, we began developing an exciting new tool,

So, we forge ahead. We remain true to our mission of

a database to connect talented designers and design firms

without our own evolution that responds to the context of the

offering flexible, on-demand contract work. The Back to

challenges that designers and firms face today.

Work initiative has become even more relevant in this time

of COVID as more designers found themselves in a position

supported by committed AIA staff and visionary board

to embrace a non-traditional work paradigm, and employers

members. We welcome your feedback, engagement, and

became more open to remote work. Look for this website to

participation. Join us as we move forward.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

It's an honor to be your president this year and be

Board of Directors

Ian Hunter, AIA

Karen Jenkins, AIA

Laura Morton, AIA

Desmond Johnson, AIA

Shaun Martin, AIA

Mark Chen, AIA

Simon Martinez, AIA

Jonathan Gould, AIA

Sarah Woynicz, AIA

Sean Fowler, Assoc. AIA

EP & Membership Director

Programs Director

Katlyn Leach, AIA

Jennifer Ingram, AIA

Jared Serwer, AIA

Elizabeth Glass, AIA

Robert Woodhurst, AIA

Randy Parrish

President-elect

Public Director

Continuing Education Director

Past President

Development Director

Communications Director

Secretary

Development Director

Programs Director

Communications Director

Treasurer

EP & Membership Director

Advocacy Director

Allied Director

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Eric Anderson, AIA

Brian Heinlein, AIA

Michele Attila, AIA

Ryan Jennings, AIA

Kymberli Barrett, AIA

Bryce Jennings, AIA

Carol Bartolo, AIA

Qiang Li, AIA

Charles Baxter, AIA

Dale McClain, AIA

Owen Berry, AIA

Michael McLeod, AIA

Marion Bledsoe, AIA

Jorge Mendez, AIA

Steven Braun, AIA

Maria Montgomery, AIA

Danny Clark, AIA

Charles O'Brien, AIA

after their name to reflect their

Susan Colgan, AIA

Adam Parrish, AIA

expertise, dedication, and ethical

Andrew Dell, AIA

Ian Reves, AIA

connects a global community of

Brian Dillman, AIA

Joshua Roland, AIA

95,000 professionals with a shared

Ashvini Mary Dinoy, AIA

Steven Seely, AIA

Richard Ellison, AIA

Jeremy Sinckler, AIA

Isaac Epstein, AIA

Jeffrey Smith, AIA

Robert Escoe, AIA

Jereme Smith, AIA

Mel Esser, AIA

Rowan Stewart, AIA

Kristen Eudy, AIA

Brian Sudduth, AIA

Daniel Fernandez, AIA

Anne Tait, AIA

Jessica Flake, AIA

Robert Tieman, AIA

Thomas Ford, AIA

Sean Toomey, AIA

Michael Frush, AIA

Andres Valencia, Intl. Assoc. AIA

Jon Gately, AIA

Michael Warren, Assoc. AIA

Olivia Hallquist, AIA

Tiffany Watkins, AIA

Doug Hannah, AIA

Caroline Wyrick, AIA

Newly Licensed AIA Atlanta recognizes a new group of licensed architects, many of whom achieved the considerable feat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Newly licensed architects who join AIA enjoy reduced membership dues and may use the "AIA" designation

standards. AIA membership

passion for architecture, design, and the built environment. It also connects these distinguished professionals with opportunities to shape the future of the profession, policies, and practice.

Wesley Hassell, AIA

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

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Antonin Aeck, FAIA

Mark Levine, FAIA

Scott Braley, FAIA

Winford Lindsay, Jr. , FAIA

Robert Brown, Jr., FAIA

Larry Lord, FAIA

John Busby, Jr., FAIA

Ivenue Love-Stanley, FAIA

Robert Cain, FAIA

L. Vic Maloof, FAIA

William Carpenter, FAIA

Cheryl McAfee, FAIA

Walter Carry, FAIA

Paula McEvoy, FAIA

contributions to the architecture

William Chegwidden, FAIA

C. Andrew McLean, FAIA

profession and society. The prestige

Steven Clem, FAIA

Carl Meinhardt, FAIA

Jerome Cooper, FAIA

Linda Michael, FAIA

Gary Coursey, FAIA

Paul Muldawer, FAIA

Jonathan Crane, FAIA

Ivey Nix, FAIA

Stanley Daniels, FAIA

Jack Pyburn, FAIA

Ben Darmer, FAIA

Richard Rothman, FAIA

Robert Dean, FAIA

Edward Shirley, FAIA

Michael Dobbins, FAIA

Michael Sizemore, FAIA

Dagmar Epsten, FAIA

Raymond Stainback, FAIA

James Fausett, FAIA

William Stanley, FAIA

Darrell Fitzgerald, FAIA

Preston Stevens, FAIA

William Floyd, FAIA

Eugene Surber, FAIA

Leslie Gartner, FAIA

Robert Svedberg, FAIA

Brian Gracey, FAIA

Stephen Swicegood, FAIA

Peter Hand, FAIA

Richard Taylor, Jr. , FAIA

Melody Harclerode, FAIA

Roberta Unger, FAIA

Philip Harrison, FAIA

Daniel Watch, FAIA

Helen Hatch, FAIA

Howard Wertheimer, FAIA

Marvin Housworth, FAIA

Karen Elizabeth York, FAIA

AIA Fellows The AIA College of Fellows comprises members recognized with the highest membership honor for their exceptional work and

of "FAIA" after an architect's name is unparalleled and the judging is rigorous. Only 3 percent of AIA members have this distinction.

Michael LeFevre, FAIA

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Getting Back to Work AIA Atlanta launching an online database to connect designers with firms offering on-demand contract work. Learn more at aiaatl.org/backtowork

he COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on the architecture profession and tougher still on female architects. Women are bearing a disproportionate share of pandemic-related childcare and schooling, as they have been much more likely to leave work because of these elevated, unprecedented responsibilities. Nevertheless, they still wish to work as architects. Moreover, as many firms are recovering economically, they may have needs for additional design work but cannot commit to hiring a fulltime position. Back to Work, a new initiative by AIA Atlanta, is a win-win solution for everyone, bridging the gap between those seeking and offering flexible jobs. Launching this year, the program comprises

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DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

a system with talented designers and firms offering on-demand contract work. Firms can select individuals based on their availability, skill sets, and other qualifications to meet their work demands. While AIA Atlanta initially developed Back to Work to address women in architecture wrestling with balancing work and at-home responsibilities, including children and elders, it will provide relief for many architectures and emerging professionals affected by the pandemic. The past year has shown the immense possibilities and increased productivity that flexible work arrangements can achieve. The Back to Work concept is a testament to architects' ability not just to adapt and respond to our society's needs but meet them with anticipation.

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Architects Roundtable 2020 Speakers

Left to right.

Steve Beecham

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Tracy Carusi, AIA Collins Cooper Carusi

Bill Clark, AIA Stevens & Wilkinson

JD Clockadale Speechworks

Bridget Ellgass, AIA Brink Design

Mindy Goodroe, AIA HKS

Doug Hooker

Atlanta Regional Commission

George B. Johnston Georgia Institute of Technology

Pierluca Maffey, International Assoc. AIA Gensler

Ryan McEnroe, AIA Quinn Evans

Jeff Morrison Goode Van Slyke Architecture

John Nipaver, AIA Portman Architects

Bithia Ratnasamy Atlanta Housing Authority

Heli Shah, Assoc. AIA CDH Partners

Michael Spivey

Gilbane Building Company

Marvin Woodward

Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission

Liz York, FAIA CDC

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Architects Roundtable unites industry professionals and thought leaders once a month for a morning discussion on market and industry trends, leadership, innovation, and best practices. While the pandemic prevented Architects Roundtable from meeting inperson for much of 2020, the virtual format was greatly successful, welcoming over a dozen speakers.

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Residential Design Awards The Residential Design Awards is an annual program recognizing excellence in built work designed by AIA Atlanta members and architects registered in Georgia. A jury deliberates based on criteria including innovative approaches to materiality, use of natural lighting, innovative structural systems, accommodating a wider variety of lifestyles and adaptable design that acknowledges aging and changing physical needs. A special thank you to RDA's distinguished 2020 jurors, including Teri Canada, Ernesto Cragnolino, David Dillard, Daniel Lee, and Kathy Scott.

Teri Canada, AIA EVOKE Studio Durham, NC

Ernesto Cragnolino, FAIA Alterstudio Austin, TX

David Dillard, FAIA HKS Dallas, TX

PROJECT NARRATIVES PROVIDED BY RESPECTIVE FIRMS.

Featured projects

THE CHARLES Honor Award, Mixed-use Lord Aeck Sargent

HOUSE IN THE BERKSHIRES Honor Award, Nontraditional Choate + Hertlein Architects

VANTAGE Merit Award, Mixed-use Niles Bolton Associates

MOCCASIN CREEK RESIDENCE Merit Award, Nontraditional Frances Zook Architect

The Ardyn Townhomes Merit Award, Multifamily Office of Design

MORNINGSIDE Merit Award, Nontraditional Square Feet Studio

Natural History Honor Award, Traditional Historical Concepts

MORE MID CENTURY Honor Award, Renovations Axios Architecture

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Daniel Lee, AIA Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Philadelphia, PA

Kathy Scott, AIA Walker Warner Architects San Francisco, CA

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

JONATHAN HILLYER (2 TOP); THOMAS WATKINS (3 BOTTOM)

The Charles HONOR AWARD, MIXED-USE LORD AECK SARGENT

The Charles is located in Buckhead, Atlanta, and is situated where Paces Ferry, Roswell, and Peachtree roads intersect, creating a complex, triangular site. The design team embraced these site constraints to inform the unique and dynamic qualities of the building. The 18-story tower features 56 luxury condominium units and ground-floor retail and office space. The design creates a singular image and living experience that changes by orientation and view, culminating in a signature staggered balcony profile on the Peachtree Road approach. By creating seamless interior to exterior living, every unit is afforded spectacular skyline views of Buckhead, Midtown, and Downtown Atlanta in multiple directions. The building re-thinks the very nature of luxury urban living on one of Atlanta's most prominent sites.

MORGAN NOWLAND

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

JONATHAN HILLYER

The Charles's challenges arise

above the streetscape, the design

from the site geometry, urban

team created a decorative screening

edge conditions, and views to the

device for the parking structure

larger surrounding context. While

that enhances the dynamic design

ultimately becoming the inspiration

aesthetic without interfering with

for the dynamic, angular design,

the active uses at ground level.

the triangular site also presented

a complex set of challenges to the

challenge was to blur the boundaries

project. Two of the three sides of

between indoor/outdoor living

the site are bordered by Peachtree

while maximizing views for each

Road and East Paces Ferry Road.

unit. The initial concept was to

The design team recognized very

provide each residential unit with

early in the design process that the

a corner condition. With five units

building would need to respond to

per floor, the design team knew

both significant urban conditions

that the geometry would have to

with active ground floor uses. This

be manipulated from the simple

meant that all the service and access

four-square diagram. The resulting

would need to be accommodated on

geometry reflects the site's angular

Boling Way.

nature and allows each unit to

benefit from a corner condition.

Furthermore, the small

Up in the residential tower, the

triangular footprint meant that

These views were confirmed with

the parking had to be above the

multiple drone flights prior to

ground floor active uses and access

design completion. Every unit has a

would be difficult. The solution was

large terrace that takes advantage

to design a series of straight and

of the corner condition with large

curved vehicular ramps through

Nanawall folding glass walls that

the ground floor service spaces and

allows the residents to extend their

residential lobby. With parking high

living space into the outdoor terrace.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Vantage MERIT AWARD, MIXED-USE NILES BOLTON ASSOCIATES The idea of creating organic opportunities for people to connect was a main driving force behind the design of Vantage, a 471,000-squarefoot, 984-bed mixed-use student housing development in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Temple University. The 19-story building offers an impressive 28,570 square feet of amenities, including a robust study center, expansive indoor/outdoor fitness center, and 18th floor Sky Lounge with 270-degree views. From its outdoor lawn to a seating terrace connecting 32,331 square feet of retail with anchor CVS Pharmacy and Chase Bank, this best-in-class new development has truly revitalized two of Temple University's busiest off-campus thoroughfares. Now a vibrant hub of activity, Vantage serves its residents, the Temple campus community at large, and surrounding public schools.

The materiality of the project pulls vibrant red accents from the

adjacent phase one building. Extensive glass curtain wall façades fill the interior spaces with natural light and maximize downtown views, while sleek metal panels reinforce a modern influence. Exposed steel columns add variation and rhythm to the façade while allowing for the creation of voids strategically adjacent to the fitness center and building entry. Each column is anchored by a dramatically lit perforated metal panel that transforms the space at night to create usable areas where residents enjoy spending time. The property's interior was designed with a heavy hospitality influence, resulting in a curated collection of upscale amenity

HALKIN MASON PHOTOGRAPHY

offerings atypical for student housing.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

The Ardyn Townhomes MERIT AWARD, MIXED-USE OFFICE OF DESIGN

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

The Ardyn Townhomes project reimagines a small, irregularly shaped corner lot in one of Atlanta's oldest historic neighborhoods. The 10‐unit cluster is situated along one of the city's major residential thoroughfares, capitalizing on the opportunity to maximize urban density where a single‐family dwelling once stood. The project brief was short but clear; the developer client has a well‐established/branded aesthetic to maintain without compromise. The caveat to this requirement was that the project needed to be both sensitive and responsive to the architectural language of the surrounding neighborhood, its homes wrought largely in the century-old Arts & Crafts style.

The design also seeks to investigate alternatives to the

typical monolithic "block" that is ubiquitous in contemporary townhome construction. To better articulate the overall mass and breakdown its scale, the block's end units are sliced and pulled away, creating new opportunities for circulation and access within the remaining interstitial space. These spaces create a distinct threshold between the public and private realms. The blocks' mass is further carved away at the top floors to create private rooftop spaces for each urban unit, a reference to the "Fifth Façade" proselytized by Le Corbusier. Wood clad, cantilevered living spaces are extruded at the corners of the blocks, a direct counterpoint to the roof's stereotomic carving. These "pulled out" volumes also maximize views from the interior while bathing the primary interior spaces in natural light.

ERICSUNPHOTOGRAPHY

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Natural History HONOR AWARD, SINGLE-FAMILY TRADITIONAL HISTORICAL CONCEPTS

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

ERIC PIASECKI

For a decade, the owners of this large estate near Charleston, South Carolina, focused on stewardship, undertaking conservation projects to preserve sensitive river habitat. They then turned to creating a home, one that would be fitting of the land and place. Yet, for this site with a long and complicated history, they envisioned a home that would be more about welcome and ease than impressions or tradition. Weaving a narrative of generational additions and adaptive reuse, the architect layered multiple moments of invented history by deconstructing the residence into three separate structures (connected only by outdoor "hallways"). The centerpiece is the grand pavilion, its great hall, riverfacing storytelling room, and kitchen all scaled for entertaining. This hub of an active family and social life, however, was intentionally designed without sleeping quarters. These can be found in two subordinate brick "outbuildings": one a gracious owners' suite, the other two guest suites. The three pavilions frame a traditional courtyard garden, striking a first impression of "approachable classicism."

In contrast to the traditional front

façade, the rear expresses a more contemporary layer of history. Behind the Greek Doric columns that once may have framed a river-facing veranda, a wall of steel and glass floats from end-to-end as a modern counterpoint. By mixing the high style of 19th century Greek Revival with moments of vernacular inspiration, the architect created a home that feels formal and informal at once, its authenticity derived from scale and proportion and the implied passage of time.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

to be in a separate structure. However, we proposed taking this a step further, suggesting a separate structure for the owners' suite. This idea would not only allow for rooms of a more generous scale in the grand pavilion, but it would also permit the building to function, at all times, as a true hub for family and friends without infringing on the owners' privacy. Then, too, three distinct structures offered a unique opportunity for symmetry and balance. We approached the sleeping pavilions as if they were once outbuildings, tucked behind the home at a time when the primary façade would have faced the river.

With the primary approach to the home from the land,

these 'former' outbuildings now flank the front façade. Arranged to cradle an ornamental boxwood garden and

the maxim that limitations are often the best generators of inspiration. While not specifically indebted to Palladio, the house captures his renowned villas' simple beauty: they are grand but unpretentious. However, what gives the design its special distinction is a creative answer to proactive measures the clients embraced to help protect the land.

Under the conservation easement imposed by the clients

themselves, no new structure on the property could exceed 5,000 square feet of impervious area (house + terraces) under the roof. To create a home of appropriate scale for an expansive site with towering oaks and to accommodate the ambitious program, it was immediately obvious that the guest bedrooms would need

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

fountain, they create a sense of intimacy and frame the arrival experience. There were certainly many options for siting this 6,200-square-foot home with such a large property, but we chose to construct it where the original homestead once stood. In fact, it is believed that three previous homes occupied this same site, all succumbing to fire or natural disaster. This latest residence is delicately situated beneath the outreached limbs of centuries-old live oak trees on a rise above the river. Its cross axis was designed to gracefully align with a recently restored parterre garden dating to 1703, firmly connecting it with the past. Establishing the new home upon the very ground of its predecessors weaves it into the property's history while signaling a new chapter focused on the stewardship of existing structures and a treasured landscape.

ERIC PIASECKI

Several challenges impacted this home's design, yet all confirmed

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

House in the Berkshires

In the Berkshire Mountains of Northwest Connecticut, on a wooded hillside with a pastoral view, the landowner wished to build a house that would blend with the natural surroundings and feel indigenous to its site. Using a natural palette featuring stone and wood, the architecture was composed to blend with the topography and create a series of interior spaces in harmony with the landscape in which they were placed. The building's making involves the expression of craft and those that made it – masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and the like.

PHILLIP SPEARS

HONOR AWARD, SINGLE-FAMILY: NONTRADITIONAL CHOATE + HERTLEIN ARCHITECTS

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

PHILLIP SPEARS

The design's goal was to express nature through the assembly

contrasting straight steel columns & beams alongside, inserted

of its component parts, with a palette of materials blending with

alongside to support the new structure.

its surroundings. Wood and stone were extracted from the site,

alongside other similar materials chosen to reflect harmony

the sloping site faces predominately southeast, with views

with the natural and indigenous surroundings. As the site was

across cornfield and river to mountains beyond. The building

prepared for construction, stone was removed and stockpiled

was oriented primarily to enjoy the morning light. The design

for use in constructing the walls that rose from the ground,

intends to merge the structure with the landscape. Responding

supporting the house's structure of wood, steel, and glass. The

to the topography, the house emerges from the brow of the

configuration of structural elements and their connections is

hill and is arranged in response to physical features and view

honestly expressed, allowing the viewer to read the structure's

opportunities. The resulting form is rendered in indigenous

logic. Symbolically, a not-quite-straight oak tree trunk column

natural materials of wood and stone, combined with human-

was placed beside the front door, signaling the entry and

made components of steel and glass.

Containing visible rock outcroppings and mature trees,

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

MERIT AWARD, SINGLE-FAMILY: NONTRADITIONAL FRANCES ZOOK ARCHITECT

exuded an older home's charm and warmth while incorporating modern amenities, better flow, and more spaces that engaged the lakefront setting. And, it must all fit within a restricted footprint on a linear lot. How to create a home that's both new and old?

Something new: Columns made from peeled

locust trees support the front porch and its shake roof. A glass-and-stucco vaulted entry with Tennessee fieldstone frames a dramatic vista through the living room to a 20-foot removable glass wall showcasing Lake Burton and the mountains beyond. The stucco and stone floor palette of the entry carries into the spacious kitchen and dining area adjacent to a large stone pavilion with a fireplace and dining area. Above the living room, a sun/moon deck offers a quiet outdoor retreat for sunning or an afternoon nap. The upstairs can host a crowd with three-bedroom suites and a sleeping loft.

Something old: Tennessee fieldstone

walls, reclaimed timber beams, and wood floors complement a Tennessee fieldstone fireplace in the living room. Locally sourced reclaimed chestnut lines the walls of the powder room. The master suite and study offer a rustic old-world feel with reclaimed wood and timbers. Off the kitchen, a two-story lightwell defines a rec room with walls and ceiling made of reclaimed wood. The boathouse, designed by the architect in 2016, now complements the home's color and material. The roof and color of the preexisting garage were updated to match the home.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

DAVID CHRISTENSEN

Moccasin Creek Residence

The client (Clarkesville, Georgia) sought a home that

GAREY GOMEZ

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Morningside MERIT AWARD, SINGLE-FAMILY: NONTRADITIONAL SQUARE FEET STUDIO This residence's (Atlanta, Georgia) brief was direct: create a modern, resort-like forever home for a professional couple. Two uncomplicated forms sit effortlessly atop a concrete foundation on a steep and narrow site. These forms belie an open interior containing ample light-filled public and private spaces centered around a private pool terrace. Structure plays a key role, as the home expresses how it was built, and materials were chosen for durability and tactility. We focused on simple and deliberate solutions, and the result is a home that offers tranquility and a respite from life in the city.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

STEVE ROBINSON/AXIOS ARCHITECTURE

More Mid Century HONOR AWARD, RENOVATIONS / ADAPTIVE REUSE AXIOS ARCHITECTURE A young, energetic couple purchased a classic 1963 house (Atlanta, Georgia) initially designed by a prominent Atlanta architect, but two additions over the years had eroded the original design intent. Fifty years of wear and tear had taken their toll. The owner intended to revive and transform the house while maintaining its original design integrity and room layout. It is an excellent example of starting with the good "bones" of the original house and using surgically precise changes to create a dramatic difference in livability and aesthetic delight.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

STEVE ROBINSON/AXIOS ARCHITECTURE

Exterior renovations are minimal. Shuttered

a sculpturally crisp white "pylon" and oak/

windows at the entry were re-opened and a

granite serving counter. Living, dining, and foyer

crisper, two-tone paint palette brings out the

now flow together while retaining their distinct

linear nature of the house. The existing creamy,

identities. Layered views from space to space

ivory paint colors muted the house's presence.

and into the landscape visually expand the house.

Layered grays bring out the richness of the

The existing masonry corners flanking each side

original ochre brick color.

of the fireplace are replaced with mullionless

corner glass for the full height. This seemingly

The central "pavilion" includes the foyer,

dining, and living areas within a 12-foot ceiling.

small change creates a fluid indoor/outdoor

A visually heavy and opaque center element

connection between the living area and pool/

that divided the three spaces is replaced with

landscape beyond.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice 42

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

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JANDDIMAGES

Front Porch

PRACTICE

Moving in the Spirit FIRM Perkins&Will CATEGORY Entertainment NEIGHBORHOOD Edgewood SIZE 23,000 square feet

Founded in 1986, Moving in the Spirit is a nationally recognized nonprofit youth development program that uses the art of dance to positively transform children and teens' lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Their mission is to educate, inspire, and unite young people through dance, propelling them to become compassionate leaders. In 2014, Moving in the Spirit looked to Perkins&Will's pro-bono program, Social Purpose, to help them envision a future for their organization. Six years later, after developing vision, design, construction, wonderful partnerships, and a very successful capital campaign, Moving in the Spirit is now at home in their beautiful new location in the mixed-use development at Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA Station. The state-of-the-art facility is an anchor tenant in the transit-oriented development, a community arts asset, and a launching pad for young people to become leaders in Atlanta. Aptly called "A Space to Soar," the new building is a transformational step that will broaden Moving in the Spirit's reach and impact on the community. Features of this highly visible and accessible home include a black box theater and associated back-of-house production space, rehearsal space including two dance classrooms, gathering areas for students and guests, and a front porch facing the adjacent park welcome the community.

Theater

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

NORTH AMERICAN PROPERTIES

PRACTICE

Colony Square

FIRM Beyer Blinder Belle and Lord Aeck Sargent

Over 50 years ago in 1968, Jim Cushman put a stake in the ground on the corner of

CATEGORY Mixed-use

the Southeast’s first mixed-use project known as Colony Square. Over the years,

NEIGHBORHOOD Midtown SIZE Over 1 million square feet

14th and Peachtree Streets in Midtown Atlanta and said, “When Atlanta becomes a real city – it will happen here.” His pioneering vision led to the development of Midtown grew up around Colony Square and the development slowly faded into the background of the cultural hub.

In 2015, North American Properties (NAP) purchased Colony Square and

launched bold plans to reinvent the iconic development as “Midtown’s Living Room” – a community gathering place filled with artful encounters, vibrant entertainment and retail, culinary delights, modern work environments and most of all, a place to soak up Midtown’s vibe. NAP broke ground on the $400 million redevelopment in October 2017 and has since radically reimagined the guest experience. Upon completion, Colony Square will feature 940,000 square feet of Class A office space; 160,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, including the state’s first IPIC movie theater and the 20,000-square-foot Politan Row food hall; 262 upscale residences; a 466-room W hotel; and 40,000 square feet of open-air space. DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

PRACTICE

Park Center II FIRM Cooper Carry CATEGORY Commercial NEIGHBORHOOD Perimeter Center SIZE 670,000 square feet

Rising as the nucleus of Atlanta’s rapidly expanding Central Perimeter district, Park Center is the embodiment of an urbansuburban workspace animated by a vibrant landscape. The 670-000-square-foot Park Center II is the second building completed within the mixed-use Park Center development, which serves as the new Southeast Regional Campus for home of a large regional insurer customer hub. Cooper Carry’s Office Workplace, Interior Design, Environmental Graphics and Landscape Architecture Studios cross-collaborated on the master plan and holistic design approach for a contemporary workplace ecosystem integrated within the larger Dunwoody ecosystem. The firm is also behind the forthcoming Park Center III, which will coincide with the opening of a multi-purpose trail that runs parallel to an “urban creek,” a waterside corridor activated with landscaping, lighting and gathering areas.

Inside the sleek building is a diversity of settings that cater

to a spectrum of work habits, from communal spaces that appeal to different personalities to café-style seating and rooftop patios that exemplify a corporate culture focused on employee wellbeing. Atlanta’s thriving arts scene, outdoor recreation and railroad roots inspire interior design elements throughout the space, and biophilia reigns with windows boasting expansive

NIGEL MARSON

views of the Central Perimeter region’s impressive tree canopy.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

HOLDER CONSTRUCTION

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

PRACTICE

Diner HEXes

FIRM The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry (Keith Schutz)

This outdoor dining concept is a response to the current

CATEGORY Restaurants; Unbuilt

these prefabricated, modular units can provide dining for

SIZE 65 square feet each

pandemic. Restaurants with reduced capacity and no real outdoor dining available can utilize the extra parking spaces they don't need with these "Diner HEXes." Six of up to 40 people in eight table configurations using only four parking spaces. The units are designed to be rotated, fastened together, and leveled for any solar or wind orientation and minimal (think ADA) parking lot slopes and screened from each other. Restaurants can set them up with integral solar-powered lighting and fans and screens and roofs with branded logos and color schemes. All pieces and parts can be easily put together and installed with minimal tools or construction expertise and can be owned and stored or rented seasonally.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

KEITH SCHUTZ

shoulder season heating. Owners can also customize the

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

PRACTICE

Center for Equity

FIRM Designing Justice + Designing Spaces

Designing Justice + Designing Spaces

process can serve as a model for other

proves that a new vision for justice is

cities as the move to decarceration leads to

possible in Atlanta, Georgia. In summer

closures of detention facilities nationwide.

CATEGORY Community; mixeduse

2020, the City of Atlanta unveiled four

The four concepts for the Center for

concepts for a radical reimagining of the

Equity developed by DJDS include two

Atlanta City Detention Center into a Center

repurposing strategies that transform

for Equity. DJDS developed the concepts as

the existing building significantly by

part of a 12-month-long, citywide process,

removing the precast concrete exterior

which allowed residents to provide direct

facade panels to let in natural light. The

input on how the former jail could be

interiors draw on design elements from

repurposed to benefit the community and

nature to support healing. Reflecting the

address its harmful effects. During a series

community’s input, a Super Lobby offers

of town halls, residents used custom board

an information center along with a range

games, building blocks, and other tools

of daily needs, including retail, community

developed by DJDS to spark a dialogue

spaces, and services for those impacted.

among community members impacted by

In a third proposed concept, the jail would

the jail, while educating participants in the

be torn down entirely, and replaced with

basics of design, financing, and real estate

three new buildings that fit more naturally

development. The workshops unleashed

into the neighborhood. The fourth option

an incredible flow of ideas and creativity

would also demolish the site, replace it

that DJDS incorporated into its final four

with a park or another community space,

concepts.

and then build smaller “Centers of Equity”

throughout the city, instead of just one

NEIGHBORHOOD South Downtown

DESIGNING JUSTICE + DESIGNING SPACES

SIZE 471,000 square feet

According to DJDS co-founder Deanna

Van Buren, this creative and liberating

central location.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Features Features Features Features Features 54

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

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The Works A new place to work, shop, dine and unwind in the heart of Atlanta's Upper Westside.

The Works was an opportunity for Smith Dalia to help transform a historically industrial park into a thriving mixed-use destination that now anchors the Upper Westside of Atlanta. Our goal at The Works was not to change the character of the area, but to reposition the district for a new life and unique sense of place. The masterplan for The Works focused on establishing pedestrian environments that encourage exploration, interaction, and a sense of community for both interior and exterior spaces. As architects, we design places to be inhabited and these spaces need to be creatively programed, engaging, and accessible.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

GENE PHILLIPS / THE WORKS

By Smith Dalia Architects

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

At the Works, the architecture not only tells a story of its past, but provides a stage for individual expression and collaboration. We must almost always resolve tensions in our work — between vision and pragmatism, art and use. We strive to honor place, history, and people — from our clients to those who will use our work, today and hopefully long into the future. We feel The Works has the potential to be this. A place to gather, to experience, and to communicate in a way that is honest and authentic. I think that is what is appreciated in good place making. It is a

GENE PHILLIPS / THE WORKS

place that makes everyone feel welcome.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

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Atlanta's skyline

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Designing Equal Access to Atlanta’s Great Urban Spaces By Desmond Johnson, AIA

ities are inherently complex organisms, personifying traits that mimic the citizens who

inhabit them. After all, cities are living, breathing entities that constantly grow, evolve, adapt, and, amid these evolutions, attempt to learn from their mistakes. The built environment mirrors sociology in many ways, creating this paradoxical question of whether its people drive the city or vice versa. The innate complexities of cities — both the built and the unseen — create challenges in providing ideal opportunities for people of all backgrounds to explore them. The great cities of the modern era, as well as those historically, have several utopian things in common: a well-connected urban fabric; charming, walkable neighborhoods; beautiful tree-lined boulevards; several square miles of green space; accessible transit; mixed-use environments; and of course, beautiful architecture that harmoniously frames all of these elements in a picturesque way.

DESMOND JOHNSON

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

However, the story that remains untold

residue of those policies continues to

when admiring a city's postcard image is

plague the way our cities develop. These

that of the socioeconomic disparities that

decisions were partially based on some

figuratively and literally shape and divide

elitist misguided belief that certain sects

urban communities. Atlanta is far from

of the population, based on socioeconom-

immune to this. "The A," as we affection-

ics, were more deserving of a high-

ately know it, is a beautiful city, rich in

er-quality built environment than others.

history and drenched in culture. Still, as

However, the incontrovertible reality is

it continues to grow, evolve, and adapt,

that no single person possesses more of

Atlanta must examine whether it pro-

a right to enjoy any public space than any

motes equitable access to the city's great

other. It would be naïve not to recognize

resources or whether it is passively — or,

that we live in a profoundly capitalistic

more nefariously, actively — restricts

society and that access to wealth is a

access to its great urban spaces.

factor. But a lack of wealth should not be

prohibitive regarding reasonable access to a city's great urban spaces.

adopting municipal and zoning policy that

is racially-based, economically-based, and

the development within that framework

generationally-based, and the persisting

— did not allow for the intertwining of the

Mural along Westside BeltLine Trail

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Modernist principles of zoning — and

New developments along Eastside BeltLine Trail

DESMOND JOHNSON

Atlanta, along with a host of other

Sunbelt cities, has a sordid history of

Mural along Westside BeltLine Trail

social and cultural complexities with a

to make a place attractive to everyone

of uses. Why, then, shouldn't this same

city's physical and structural context.

... It is far simpler to create spaces that

principle be applied to the people who

In the 1970s and 1980s, New York City

work for people than those that do not

provide life to these spaces? Just as

urbanist William Whyte created a revo-

— and a tremendous difference it can

the built environment benefits from

lutionary research group chronicled in

make to the life of a city." Good design

a rich and diverse mix of uses, places

his famed publication, "The Social Life of

is no more expensive than bad design,

and neighborhoods can benefit from

Small Urban Spaces." In it, Whyte does

pragmatically, and architects and urban

a rich and diverse mix of people. The

not mince his words in stating, "The big-

designers must adopt this philosophy

book "Arsenal of Exclusion & Inclusion"

gest single obstacle to the provision of

moving forward.

is a "collection of policies and practices

better public space is the 'undesirables'

that are used by architects, planners,

problem. 'They' are themselves not too

that their neighborhood's quality is

policy-makers, developers, real estate

much of a problem." He continues, "It is

greatly improved when there is a rich

professionals, community activists,

the actions taken to combat 'them' that

and diverse mix of uses in one locale.

neighborhood associations, and individ-

is the problem." While his term 'unde-

Whether you believe that the greatest

uals to wage the ongoing war between

sirables' intends to describe criminals

neighborhood in Atlanta is Midtown,

integration and segregation."

and vagrants, the unfortunate reality

Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, or West

is that everybody has the potential to

End, they rely heavily on mixed-use

urban spaces of the past few years is the

be seen as an 'undesirable' by their

projects instead of siloed developments

highly-touted BeltLine, a 22-mile loop

neighbor. Whyte adds that "the best way

because developers and end-users rec-

of multi-use trails, modern streetcar

to handle the problem of undesirables is

ognize the inherent value in a diversity

(eventually), and parks connecting 45 lo-

Most urban dwellers would agree

One of Atlanta's most significant

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

BeltLine goers is seen by some as an engine of division, pushing those with less further out. The BeltLine pledged to provide 5,600 affordable units to its adjacent neighborhoods; however, it has only fulfilled 38% of that volume to date. The project has, arguably, had the adverse effect of what it originally intended to accomplish. There is something positive to be said about the success of a project of its magnitude that has attracted crowds to it, increased the value of adjacent properties, contributed to robust tactical urbanism, and provided investments in neighborhoods that had long been forgotten. However, these achievements' strengths do not nullify Westview artwork

the issue of socioeconomic exclusion that continues to plague Atlanta, even in a project intended to be an apparatus of inclu-

cal neighborhoods — all based on railroad corridors that formerly

sion. Architects, as creative problem solvers and change-mak-

encircled the city. A large part of the premise of the BeltLine was

ers, have a unique power and ability to influence this necessary

to support affordable workforce housing, economic development,

change beyond just the built environment. Throughout history,

job creation, public health, streetscapes, public art, environmen-

architects have been the most prominent advocates for the

tal clean-up, and historic preservation. While parts of the 22-mile

health, strength, growth, and well-being of cities, and this does

trail remain under construction through 2030, the impact of the

not stop where the steel structure meets the concrete sidewalk.

open and partially open portions of the trail is undeniable. The

BeltLine is not just a mode of transportation but has become a

culture, weaving together neighborhoods and people of all types,

destination of its own.

thereby allowing every person unfiltered access to everything

that makes this city remarkable. After all, cities are living, breath-

since its inception for seemingly abandoning its commitment

ing entities that constantly grow, evolve, adapt, and, amid these

to affordability and socioeconomic access. Instead of stitching

evolutions, attempt to learn from their mistakes. It's about time

diverse communities of unique populations together, the project

Atlanta learns from them.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

DESMOND JOHNSON

However, the BeltLine has fallen under extreme scrutiny

Atlanta has the potential to become a coherent palimpsest of

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The Saving Grace of Outdoor Space Post-COVID and Beyond By Curt Jackson

Walden Athletic Complex plaza

emember your crowded office? Happy hours, classrooms,

and "normal" times are a distant memory. COVID-19 isn't

public health. Fresh air, places to walk, play, and exercise benefit

Access to outdoor environments has a direct effect on our

eliminating your office or university, but it is changing the way

both mental and physical wellbeing. A renewed focus on outdoor

they are designed. More specifically, the pandemic is changing

space had a similar revival during and after the cholera epidemic

how people can congregate safely. Recent Centers for Disease

of 1832. The first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted,

Control guidelines recommend hosting large gatherings out-

designed New York City's Central Park as the "lungs of the city"

doors. Still, events must implement physical distancing. Due to

following his son's death from the disease. Its design is vital to

COVID-19, outdoor space is essential, but these valuable spaces

New York's overall sanitation and adds green space.

are often reduced, eliminated, or a complete afterthought in the

design process. Landscape architects see this pandemic as a call

outdoor space and public health together. Separating places to

to action. Now is the time to reinforce the value outdoor space

run, walk, bike, and exercise away from urban pollution is an easy

brings to the community's overall health and its benefits for the

solution to bolster the surrounding region's overall health. While

built environment.

creating space for exercise can be incredibly difficult in a dense

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

COVID-19 should prompt today's designers to consider

Walden Athletic Complex Plaza Space

tile outdoor features to place into a site.

Walden Athletic Complex multi-use field

One adaptable site feature that

speaks to the COVID and post-COVID environment is an amphitheater. It easily meets the criteria on a COVID prevention design checklist as a large gathering space that can distance users while outdoors. Specific design considerations like the scale are important, especially for seating layouts. Designers can configure the seating to accommodate a single user, couples, or larger groups depending on the use or performance. These groupings can be visually separated by graphics or physically separated by contrasting materials. The design can offset rows of seats six feet or more for access city, urban infill and pocket parks are

Chattahoochee RiverLands is another

excellent opportunities to squeeze valu-

project developing a regional multimodal

able outdoor space. One example is the

trail system, stretching along a 125-mile

Walden Athletic Complex, located along

run of the river and crossing through

Freedom Parkway in Atlanta's Sweet

multiple counties, municipalities, and

Auburn neighborhood. Found on the

neighborhoods. These regional plans will

long-vacant Walden Middle School Site,

create the connections and access to

the Atlanta Public School facility boasts a

the outdoors that communities desper-

state-of-the-art multipurpose turf field,

ately need. The people are saying (and

regulation baseball/softball field, and

showing) that they need to be outside.

concessions facilities for athletes. After

Throughout the pandemic, Piedmont

opening in 2018, intermural soccer teams

Park and the BeltLine remained incred-

and the community at large now use

ibly busy and perhaps too crowded. Re-

the site. Infill projects offer public and

sponding at a regional level is imperative,

private versatility that can significantly

but implementation can take years or

benefit communities, providing urban

decades. It is equally essential to develop

escapes that get people outside and

smaller-scale, easily implemented, versa-

and physical distancing if needed and change depending on social restrictions.

The demand for outdoor classrooms

also saw a resurgence during the pandemic. When designing, implementing a specific area for students and another for the educator creates a spatial division for COVID prevention. Campuses can also achieve infill by retrofitting a steep slope or unused outdoor space. Large or small, the benefits of outdoor classrooms are endless and create a pandemic-proof learning environment.

A nontraditional amphitheater can

also provide COVID retrofitting versatility. The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's newly constructed Fine Arts

moving.

"Large gatherings," an amorphous

term, is one of the most significant

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Fine Arts Building

challenges posed by the pandemic. As such, large parks and open spaces will see a resurgence. Not just parks the size of Atlanta's Piedmont Park or New York's Central Park, but projects that span across regions. The BeltLine is Atlanta's groundbreaking regional trail and transit system paving Atlanta's way into the 21st Century. The success of regional projects EBERLY & ASSOCIATES

like the BeltLine inspired more communities and elected officials to champion similar efforts. Construction is already underway at Atlanta's new 280-acre Westside Park. Once finished, the park will dwarf Piedmont Park's 185 acres. DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

situated more than six feet apart, allowing for

outdoor performance space with a simple yet

circulation and seating.

impactful space-defining layout. A two-foot-

wide cast stone paving band forms a circle,

rotated or mirrored, increasing the space

flush with the flat South Georgia terrain,

between people and creating a spatial bubble.

defining the formal space. The performance

No two seats are directly next to each other.

space within the paved band is an open lawn

The design randomization provides interest

that users can subdivide infinitely. When not

and is a powerful COVID prevention feature.

being utilized as a performance space, am-

The design reinforces distance and separa-

phitheaters can adapt into lounging, exercise,

tion in a tight space, even along the city's

or other exciting uses. This level of multi-

busiest pedestrian transit corridor.

functionality tears down barriers between an

artist, art, architecture, and outdoor play.

ing outdoor spaces and features into existing

buildings or new developments. The proto-

Entries, courtyards, and pocket parks

Additionally, each seat orientation is

Design can also retrofit COVID-prevent-

all provide value to design clients and the

typical central courtyard days are fading, and

community and are even more critical in a

now dynamic outdoor space is carving out

post-COVID environment. A great example

room on each building level. Providing usable

of an efficient small-scale pocket park is

space to distance outside on upper building

the bosque along the BeltLine at 725 Ponce.

levels is becoming the standard. Green roofs

The bosque consists of nine large, concrete

are an incredibly valuable outdoor feature to

raised planters, each with an individual

incorporate. These can be retrofitted onto

seating ledge. These planters incorporate

existing and proposed buildings and actively

multiple layers of spatial design to allow users

combat climate change by mitigating the heat

to properly physical distance. Planters are

island effect, establishing important pollina-

725 Ponce bosque

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

SARAH DORIA

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tors, collecting and reusing stormwater, and reestablishing native plantings. Green roofs contribute to disease prevention and climate resiliency.

Expansive greenspace integration has been

successful in developments like Star Metals Offices in West Midtown. Each floor has a sustainable water harvesting green roof and multiple hardscape terraces. Many tenants have private terraces, allowing them to escape the office, get fresh air, hold meetings and events without direct access to a large courtyard. Landscape architects, planners, and designers should consider green roofs thoroughly and early during the planning process.

Building entrances, including front entry steps,

terraces, and walkways, are another outdoor environment that can adapt to pandemics. Upgrading an access point can add tremendous value to a development. Stairs and entrances can perform double duty as small amphitheaters or platform seating. Walkways can grow into small plaza space for socially distanced gatherings. The entry can be a collaborative effort to create transformative, site-specific spaces for its users. Dynamic entrances moving away from singular programmed uses will be some of the most successful, cost-effective, post-COVID outdoor spaces.

Landscape architects recognize that every

outdoor space or feature can address issues generated by COVID. It is imperative to include landscape architects on project teams. Now more than ever, every site needs a dynamic team to manage and develop solutions for future health crises thoughtfully. A collaborative effort provides the unique, site-specific design responses that give value to any development or space. Avoid copy-and-paste designs from previous projects and create new, collaborative solutions. Before, during, and after the pandemic, public representatives will be collaborating much more often with landscape architects, urban designers, planners, scientists, and artists to solve future planning issues. The spaces and solutions here only scratch the surface of design in our "new normal." The opportunities for collaboration, increasing value, and public health are endless.

Greater access to outdoor space is a founda-

tion for healthy communities and creating economic value on a large scale. These results come from both small-scale spaces like entrances and large regional transit corridors. Accessible, public outdoor space and transitional public-private spaces are crucial for those that do not have equal access to the outdoors. As designers, it is worth remembering to be stewards of public health and welfare, and fight hard to show it.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

725 Ponce Bike Corral SARAH DORIA

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Diverging Emerging Professionals A Conversation with Future Architects By Heli Shah, Assoc. AIA and Sarah Woynicz, AIA

Bangseh Akuchu, Assoc. AIA Georgia Tech

Akhil Hemanth, Assoc. AIA SCAD

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Leah Diebolt Georgia State

Lauren Hoke Georgia State

Morgan Frederick, Assoc. AIA Kennesaw State

Day’Zhanera King, Assoc. AIA Kennesaw State

Daniela Márquez, Assoc. AIA Georgia Tech

s the world slowly reopens and tran-

how this will impact a new generation of ar-

sitions into a post-pandemic industry,

chitects and anticipate the change in their

the norms of architecture, our practices,

trajectories. We interviewed seven emerg-

and our culture will be changed. As we try

ing professionals to discuss current trends,

to adapt to new realities, alter our priorities

reflect on their preparations for the future,

and change our perception of the archi-

and gain insights to share with new gradu-

tecture industry, we have to ask ourselves

ates and other emerging professionals.

Education

Skills

In addition to the stress of finals,

With so many baby boomers retiring,

hobbies and relationships that are

studio presentations, and graduations,

the profession is about to undergo a

unrelated to architecture. There is so

students must face another impending

massive "passing of the torch." In recent

much to explore outside this industry,

challenge of entering a job market that

years, we have seen young architects

so separating work and life is something

has been upended by the pandem-

stepping up and undertaking enormous

I am continuing to work on.

ic. Some students have had their job

responsibilities, yet often feeling under-

offered delayed or even withdrawn.

prepared for these roles.

MF: My advice to students is to develop

AH: Future architects need to be more in tune with the ideology behind user

Instead of following the typical path into the profession after graduation,

Are there any skills that you wished

experience, including the forces that

some students attempt an alternative

you focused more on during your aca-

affect the experience. It is the mapping,

approach. There is not a right or wrong

demic career? What are ways in which

understanding, and plotting of this

way, and everyone has to create their

you hope future graduates are more

experience that would make the built

own.

prepared?

environment more dynamic and push the boundaries of the field of architec-

Please tell us about yourself.

Daniela Màrquez (DM): I wish we discussed costs related to construction.

ture.

Morgan Frederick (MF): I recently grad-

Budgetary concerns often get over-

Interview Process

uated with a bachelor's degree and have

looked in academics, but that subject

The architecture industry has always

considered a Master of Urban or Inte-

matter would be beneficial to students. I

been tied to the economy. Economic

rior Design as well as other combined

also hope that students understand how

uncertainty tends to put major in-

MBA programs.

to utilize their individual process best

vestments on hold, and the industry is

and become flexible and collaborative

directly affected by these changes. Even

Bangseh Akuchu (BA): I am currently

in environments with peers of different

though the pandemic has undeniably

pursuing my MBA at Georgia Tech. As

skills and experience. Collaboration is

hurt several market sectors, other

I experienced the industry's change

key!

building types are more in demand than ever before and offer some relief. As

during the early days of the pandemic and saw the job opportunities deplete,

Day'Zhanera King (DK): I hope future

established firms and architects maneu-

I decided to apply for my MBA and

architects are aware of the abundance

ver this obstacle, emerging profession-

complete it as a dual degree along with

of natural resources and their role in

als are also navigating challenges like

my M.Arch.

climate change. I hope they actively

virtual interviews and work-from-home

address the severe consumption of

culture or acknowledging the industry's

Leah Diebolt (LD): Due to the industry's

resources, our carbon footprint, and its

reduction of opportunity altogether.

limited opportunities, I considered

role in environmental degradation. Has the pandemic impacted your

changing career paths and contemplated other creative fields such as working

LD: I hope that students learn how

interview process or any potential job

at art museums and doing art curation.

to market themselves and the variety

offers?

of skills they possess. I believe that Akhil Hemanth (AH): The meteoric rise

this generation is extremely capable

LD: I was an intern at a residential firm

of digital technologies has increased

and self-motivated. With the world's

but was shortly let go due to the pan-

emphasis on the user experience. This

knowledge at our fingertips, anything

demic. After that, during the application

data is actively fueling new designs in

is possible. I think self-confidence

process, I felt very unmotivated. The

the digital realm and indirectly affects

and marketing are both essential skills

job prospects were scarce, and it was

how we perceive the built environment.

young professionals should develop in

difficult to stay hopeful and optimistic,

Architects do not typically track this

school. I also believe that my degree has

but I have chosen to focus on my skills

data, so after working in the industry

prepared me for the design industry,

in the meantime!

for one year, I decided to explore data

but no amount of education could have

science and take a course on edX. There

prepared anyone for this pandemic.

MF: As the pandemic became more

are many niches in the design industry

During the pandemic, I have realized the

severe, companies hired professionals

that students can tap into based on

importance of networking and wish I

with more experience to avoid training

their interests and I recommend explor-

had more networking experience.

newcomers, or they were downsizing.

ing them.

Prospects in the industry were deplet-

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

ing rapidly, and it has been a difficult time for many students.

staff to partake or listen in on those meetings continues moving forward. They are incredible learning experiences for those of

As the job opportunities fluctuate, and with so many changes

us starting our professions.

coming to the profession during and after the pandemic, how do you propose that recent graduates stay relevant and put their best foot forward? MF: My recommendation would be to strengthen the connections you have with industry professionals and build those relationships. Send them holiday cards, share relevant articles, and promote the work you are doing. BA: I think the best thing you can do for yourself is to continue improving. This can be in the form of a new degree, accreditation, or even developing your skills to make yourself more dynamic. I also suggest exploring different paths to your end goal. Your architecture degree offers so many more opportunities than just licensure, and I encourage you all to explore them! DK: I recommend all new graduates exercise their social skills, build a mentor network, and create a tribe of trusted peers. Also, set goals, stay focused, and just do it. DM: I encourage you to continue developing your technical skills even after graduation. Take advantage of all the resources that are available online!

The Profession

The Future of the Profession Architects should embrace resiliency and utilize the ability to adapt. Recent graduates are no exception to this resiliency and have shown the profession has much to learn from this generation of young professionals. What insight do you have for those graduating in 2021, either post-pandemic or during the pandemic? MF: Doors don't open unless you open them, so don't be afraid to reach out to people you believe will help you in your journey. BA: If you are graduating during the pandemic, you have to be open and flexible to things that come your way. It might not be what you expected, but this is the perfect time to experiment. DM: There is not just one single track for professional growth. While things can remain challenging during the pandemic, you can use this as a time to explore what other potential avenues there are for recent architectural graduates. LD: It is important to continue to educate yourself and refine your strengths.

The profession is continually changing, and the pandemic has

Lauren Hoke (LH): Take any opportunities you can to learn on

created more challenges. Many businesses had to pivot and

the job. Hands-on experience is always the best way to learn.

move much of the workforce to a remote environment. Recent graduates shared their experience moving from the classroom into the profession during this period. If you're working from home, what is your most favorite and least favorite part? MF: I miss daily interactions with my co-workers, but we now conduct weekly project meetings, which has been very helpful. BA: Working remotely has made it a lot easier to balance my

continually evolving, lessons in resiliency and flexibility learned by these emerging professionals give us hope for the years to come. The insights from these rising stars show much knowledge and enthusiasm. Most have adapted to leveraging their interests and talents to explore all potential avenues available, even if they fall outside traditional practice norms.

As the industry continues to adapt and settle into a new

normal of Zoom events, masked meetings, and virtual network-

time between school and work and has helped me accomplish

ing, we encourage all professionals to continue having candid

more in a day.

conversations with peers.

Architecture is a collaborative profession. What practices have you welcomed during the pandemic to maximize your communication and collaborations? Which practices do you hope to continue after the pandemic? DM: I have really enjoyed the ability to join in on client meetings virtually. It has allowed for more participation than I believe would happen in person. I hope the flexibility for younger

While the long-term impacts of COVID-19 are unknown and

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

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DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Reconciliation

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice By Ganesh Nayak, AIA

A duplicate of each column that can be claimed by the county as their own memorial. DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

2020 was a year of reckoning for the United States when we seem-

This collective memory expands with time to include anyone who

ingly reached a tipping point in the collective understanding and

chooses to understand the past and reflect on the present and

acknowledgment of racial injustice and systemic racism precipitat-

a future consciously avoiding the failings and pitfalls of troubled

ed by the murder of George Floyd last May in Minneapolis. It was

pasts. Hence collective memory is constantly evolving and makes

an occasion for intense reflection for architects and most citizens

the memorial a living cultural artifact beyond a historical marker.

on the inadequate distance we have come and the considerable

With time, a certain universality of shared experience, either real

work we need to do to advance racial justice in every sphere of

or imagined, outgrows the memorial's particularities with a "this

life. In the wake of this pivotal moment, it is instructive to visit

could happen again and to anyone, including us" sentiment.

and examine memorials for the lessons they offer of past events or

periods that they commemorate.

varied pasts: wars with specific start and end years are on one

end of the spectrum. The Vietnam War Memorial by Maya Lin in

Memorials are repositories of collective memory for those

people whose loss and grief are commemorated by their making.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

Memorials have been made to commemorate any facet of

Washington, D.C., exemplifies the war memorial and the abstract

GANESH NAYAK

The undulating field with columns above

Wall with metal strips relating everyday stories behind some of the lynchings.

memorial genre. Abstraction in a memorial opens it up for interpretation of diverse meanings to those who visit and experience it, and each experience and the meaning it generates is different. Running one's fingers over the name of a loved one or that of a stranger inscribed on the Wall of the Vietnam Memorial becomes a powerful experience replete with meaning.

Some memorials commemorate periods in history

— that may not have a discrete set of events — when cultural erasure and systemic racism have been perpetuated over centuries that continue to present times, though they may be proscribed constitutionally. Such practices,

A cluster of stelae overhead.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

now covert and still systemic, profoundly affect the psyches of entire peoples. The memorials of the Civil Rights era exemplify this category. With Atlanta considered the center of the Civil Rights Movement, several monuments are within a two- or threehour distance. The most recent additions to these sites are The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, both located in Montgomery, Alabama. Not far from Maya Lin's Civil Rights Memorial, the Legacy Museum sits in a former warehouse downtown where Black people were enslaved. These memorials' roles are to commemorate a bleak period in our history and show us the path forward in understanding how otherness of cultures by a dominant culture is effected and how society can bridge the gap with otherness.

The National Memorial for Peace

and Justice, the memorial for victims of lynching, is a short drive from the Legacy

View from the periphery.

replete with markers of slavery and racism. Conceived and designed by Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative with MASS Design Group, it opened in 2018 along with the Legacy Museum. We visited it a few months thereafter. The Memorial encloses a central court. Hanging off the four quadrants' ceilings that form the court are 805 hanging six-foot-tall stelae or columns of rusted

View of the interior court.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

steel, each representing a county where a

columns' meaning, the unease is profound;

lynching took place, mostly between 1877

the walk in the field is somber and moving.

and 1950. Columns representing counties

each bear the names of roughly 4,400 doc-

the stories behind some of the lynchings:

umented lynchings in this period. (A recent

ordinary and everyday acts that ended in

study documents 2,000 more lynchings

unjust death. A minister performing an

during the Reconstruction period.) Each

interracial wedding. A construction worker

column has a duplicate set horizontally in a

insisting that a white co-worker return his

field outside for counties to claim them and

shovel. Addressing a white police officer

create memorials of their own. The columns

without using "Mister." Getting mistaken

in the quadrants hang at the same level,

for possessing drugs. Going out jogging on

while the floor slopes. It is like walking in an

the street. Sitting in the car after getting

undulating field with a forest overhead.

something from the store.

The resolution and reconciliation of

There are inscriptions that provide

The second half of this catalog of ordi-

forces to the ground convey the feeling of

nary acts are events in 2020 that led to the

stability in architecture, and older buildings

killing of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,

derive part of their aesthetic from ele-

and George Floyd from the era in which we

gantly exude these forces through massive

live. The memorial reminds us, for the task

structural elements like columns and beams.

of memorials is to remind, that we are all

Modern buildings don't necessarily rely on

in a charged field with the weight of these

the structure for their aesthetic, as materi-

racial injustices looming on us. To ignore

als are stronger, thinner, and less massive.

them or passively observe another grue-

We get a sense of existential unease when

some spectacle is to be complicit. Reconcil-

these steel columns, individually slender but

ing and resolving the division and the gap

collectively massive, loom overhead, unre-

so that someday the overhead forest meets

solved and unreconciled with the gravita-

the field, and the unease is lifted, is slow,

tional forces of the earth. And in the context

difficult and painful.

of the memorial, when we consider the

But we are all in the field, each of us.

GANESH NAYAK

Museum in historic downtown, which is

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Social Enterprise Architecture: Paradigm & Practice By Kate Peterson

o the uninitiated, it’s difficult to explain what a social enterprise architecture firm is or does. It sounds like pretty

buzzwords strung together by millennial influencers on Instagram who fill their feeds with tiny two-dimensional squares of social media activism but never actively engage with those causes in their three-dimensional lives. Social enterprise bridges the gap between ethical intention

can be more than just revenue-generators, that they can be — indeed must be — leveraged for collective social good. Social enterprise believes we can maximize profits while also maximizing benefits to society and the environment. It is the practice of finding creative and workable solutions to seemingly intractable social problems.

Social enterprise tries to ask and answer the ancient ques-

tion, “How do I love my neighbor as myself?” through the lens of all disciplines and professions.

Architecture is the synthesis of human thought and human

need: we design and build the structures we need to work, live, and rest. The express and most basic purpose of architecture is to offer shelter and connection to every part of our being, individually and collectively. Good architecture (and, unfortunately, a

Interior rendering of CultureWorx, Clarkston, GA

It is the belief that our businesses, ventures, and projects

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

lot of bad architecture) frames our lives. It is the original human endeavor.

Social enterprise architecture believes that every human

being deserves a built environment that supports their highest self. It is a paradigm that demands every architect and designer use their training in critical thinking, observation, and idea generation to influence and impact social issues in their practice directly.

Depending on the project brief, a social enterprise archi-

tecture firm might ask any number of variants on that age-old question: “How can I shelter my neighbor?” “What built environment can I design in this community that will support human flourishing?” “Where is the best, most accessible location for this

MICHAEL RICKMAN

and tangible practice.

structure to have the largest social impact in this neighborhood?”

There are some phenomenal social enterprise architec-

ture firms in the world, INCH Architecture & Design, based in Glasgow, Scotland, is a standout. Many Atlanta-based architecture firms focus on different aspects of social justice work, like Matt Finn, founder at Cognitive Design, whose design philosophy centers on promoting mental and physical well-being via elegant and thoughtful details seamlessly integrated into the built environment. Atlanta also boasts the architectural work of Pavan Iyer and his firm eightvillage. The nucleus of his ethos focuses on

"Social enterprise architecture believes that every human being deserves a built environment that supports their highest self."

synergizing architecture, urban design, ecology, and education to bring about designs that are good for people and the planet.

Four years ago, Michael Rickman decided to join these

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

standout social justice-oriented architecture firms and founded Rickman Architecture & Design (RAD) with the express purpose of pursuing social enterprise as a paradigm and practice.

After a decade at different excellent archi-

tecture firms, Michael was doing good work, but he wasn’t fundamentally satisfied.

In 2016, Michael met Brian Preston, a local

social entrepreneur who trained men transitioning out of homelessness to become high-finish woodworkers. The results of his work and belief — beautiful furniture, a profitable company, and many restored lives — were incredible and inspiring.

“I thought, why don’t architects do this?”

Michael says, “How can architecture play a larger role when it comes to social impact? We pride ourselves on practicing human-centered design processes; why not human-centered design practices?”

Shortly thereafter, Michael found Plywood

People, an Atlanta nonprofit that helps launch and connect social entrepreneurs, creatives, and nonprofits. They offer curriculum, content, and coaching to help prospective do-gooders focus and launch their visions.

He says, “Plywood People, specifically

the PATH curriculum, was the springboard for everything RAD. This network of like-minded and creative people fed into and helped form the

Exterior rendering of affordable housing design, Jonestown, MS. RAD partnering with Third Lens Ministries, But God Ministries, and the Design Build Institute of America.

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

MICHAEL RICKMAN

ideas that ultimately shaped RAD. Without this

each unique design problem. From there, multiple solutions arise. Then it’s back to the community/ client to revisit, revise, refine into a design that should be a benefit to everyone.”

One particular social enterprise project on

their drawing board is a chance to see their paradigm in practice.

Social entrepreneur Luke Keller and his

partners tapped RAD and Nelson to adapt and rehabilitate an abandoned 15,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Clarkston into Culture Worx. This multi-tenant coworking space focuses on job creation and incubation of refugee startups. Culture Worx will have over 40 offices, five large conference rooms, a 1000-square-foot training room, a large coworking space, and a 50-plus-person stadium seating area. Anchor tenants include Amplio Recruiting, a staffing agency that helps great companies hire dependable employees from the refugee workforce; the administrative offices of Tekton Training, a trade school that trains refugees; Target Capital, a real estate joint venture and consulting firm; and the offices of Clarkston City Hall. The space will feature a new innovative brewery from Monday Night Brewing, a restaurant partnered with Chef Jason Jimenez focusing on mentoring refugee restaurateurs, a farmers’ and makers’ market, and a coffee shop from Refuge Coffee Company.

RAD’s designs for Culture Worx draw inspi-

ration from the textures of woven fabric. Different community and the willingness to share ideas and thoughts on similar core value endeavors, RAD would not be what it is today.”

RAD takes on a balance of for-profit, limited

profit, and pro-bono projects. He and his team have partnered with some incredible nonprofits, like NobleClay Fitness, Third Lens Ministries, and Lamon Luther.

Before beginning any project, RAD starts

with a listening session between the communities they seek to serve and the clients who invited them into the project. Through an iterative process, they creatively and carefully refine their designs to meet the client’s and community’s needs and set them up for an optimal future. They listen once, then draw, then listen again, and redraw. Michael says, “For design solutions to have long-lasting effects on the communities we serve, research and community engagement are key factors. Through early involvement, we strive to meet, observe, question, and gain insight into

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

"People matter. Human-centered design processes are only as good as your ability to connect and network with people." colors and types of thread can be

live and work together under one

that architecture intends to serve and

intertwined to create something new,

roof.

protect. He adds, “People matter. Hu-

beautiful, and useful without sacrific-

ing what makes the original elements

when done in increments and com-

only as good as your ability to connect

distinctive. This approach is a perfect

munity. Social enterprise architec-

and network with people. RAD will

spatial metaphor for the cultural

ture, as a paradigm and practice,

continue to establish relationships

hybridity of Clarkston. The floor plan

embraces and builds common good

that foster social conscience design

interlaces the multi-purpose spaces

and common ground.

efforts and strive to connect every

seamlessly. They are distinct but

project that comes in our doors to

unified: representative of the dynamic

for everyone,” Michael says. “For RAD,

tension of the refugee experience.

when we complete any of our social

The windows protrude to create a

impact-based projects, and we get to

inextricably linked. None of us are in

ripple effect on the façade, symbolic

see the users/people it was designed

this alone. What is good for my neigh-

of the refugees’ integration with and

for reap the benefits of our work,

bor is good for me. The paradigm and

impact on their adopted community.

there is no greater value. It’s amazing

practice of social enterprise architec-

Each window is a visual invitation to

what happens when we spur one an-

ture invite us to believe we can build

see things from a slightly different

other on toward love and good works.”

a better future, one project, one detail

perspective. This building will be a

at a time, by doing just that — building

place where culture truly works, as

RAD’s best practices for successful

a better future, one project, one detail

many organizations that strive for the

social enterprise projects center on

at a time.

collective good of their community

listening to and loving the humans

“Value has a different meaning

Looking to the future of design,

man-centered design processes are

some kind of social impact endeavor.” 2020 confirmed that we are all

Exterior rendering of Hope Smiles, pro bono dental clinic, Jonestown, MS. RAD partnering with Third Lens Ministries. 86

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

MICHAEL RICKMAN

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Less Space, More Life By Will Johnston

There's a revolution happening and with it comes an exploration of policy change, space-utilization, and trading secret Bundt cake recipes. A recently completed pocket neighborhood of eight houses in Clarkston, Georgia, is doing precisely this. This new neighborhood intentionally designed around community and human interaction challenges policy and building norms in America. You won't find any garages or private theatre rooms here. In fact, all of the homes are under 500 square feet, and one is only 250 square feet, a true "tiny home" on a permanent foundation.

These homes are clustered around a com-

mon area on only .57 acres and are inspired by the design theory of "pocket neighborhoods" by Ross Chapin Architects out of Washington state. This methodology of designing housing clusters incorporates both privacy and connectivity in the neighborhood. Over the past three years, our project, The Cottages on Vaughan, has given us valuable insight into why we need more viable housing policies to allow innovative housing options. Knowing that our typical American suburban sprawl creates isolation and extreme loneliness, community-oriented designs like

DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

WILL JOHNSTON DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM

"Many cities and counties may not realize if they have existing cottage court ordinances, they may not be attractive to developers because of certain restrictions that disincentivize development."

pocket neighborhoods are part of the solution. The future of design will revolve around connecting communities through physical, social, and psychological attributes that complement the structures while facilitating social interactions.

The road to this realization started with one

city's desire for more housing and their willingness to change laws to make it possible. The city of Clarkston contacted the MicroLife Institute to help attract new development and add small cottages to their city. The organization discovered Clarkston was one of only a few towns in Georgia that had an existing cottage court zoning ordinance. Since no one had ever built a cottage development, MicroLife first evaluated the current cottage court zoning ordinance to determine why. MicroLife then suggested amendments and worked with city officials to put forth a revised process, city councilmembers approved the amended cottage court ordinance. This newly updated ordinance gave more design flexibility and encouraged the development of cottage courts.

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Many cities and counties may not realize if

WILL JOHNSTON

cottage ordinance. After a six-month zoning rewrite

they have existing cottage court

California. These projects were

ordinances, they may not be

the sought infill choice that gave

attractive to developers be-

the average American access to

cause of certain restrictions that

a great home and the outdoors

disincentivize development. One

while connecting with their

example that Clarkston rectified

neighbors.

is designated these structures

as detached condos, making

cottage court ordinance still

obtaining a mortgage more dif-

does not exist, but developers

ficult. Most commonly, existing

and builders have found ways

rules make cottage development

to incorporate these designs

more expensive than traditional

into housing options. If you look

single-family development and

closely around the metro area,

don't offer increased density for

many cottage courts were built in

building cottage courts. There

the early 1900s and, more recent-

must be incentives for developers

ly, planned developments. Unfor-

to consider building these types

tunately, developers are unlikely

of projects, and cities and coun-

to pursue a cottage court with

ties will miss these opportunities

no cottage ordinance due to the

if they do not correctly adopt or

strenuous process and cost. New

revise their ordinances accord-

urbanists and housing advocates

ingly.

would like to see Atlanta adopt a

The idea of cottage courts

In the city of Atlanta, a

cottage ordinance to incentivize

and pocket neighborhoods is not

this sort of development. Without

new. In the early 1900s, bungalow

one, Atlanta and other metro cit-

courts, cottage-sized homes built

ies will continue to see only large

around a shared common garden

single-family homes built, which

with parking off to the side, were

drives up housing prices and

popular throughout southern

discourages social interaction.

Connectivity and commu-

nity must be incorporated goals within every built project because loneliness is a real issue in the United States. Many Americans are facing complete isolation, and it is literally killing us. According to the 2016 New York Times article "How Social Isolation Is Killing Us," loneliness is just as damaging to human health as obesity and smoking, and socially isolated individuals have a 30 percent higher risk of dying in the next seven years. Society has mistaken isolation for privacy. The damage is apparent, but the solution is simple: build homes that allow you to interact more with your neighbors.

Take the pocket neigh-

borhood, for example. A pocket neighborhood is interactive. The

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layout allows for recognition and potential en-

individuals from buying into this concept. As a

gagement between houses and neighbors with

stakeholder and homeowner in The Cottages

garages and parking areas away from the living

on Vaughan, I couldn't be happier with my new

spaces. Having to walk in front of other homes

home and community. Even more positively,

increases the chance of connection and friendly

before construction finished, the homeowners

interaction. Whether it's a wave, a nod, or a

met every two weeks on Zoom to catch up and

quick "hello," these encounters offer moments of

talk. Topics included the weather, food, dance

connection. Houses all face a common outdoor

moves, and even amending HOA ordinances to

area where room-sized front porches inspire

fit the dynamic group. It is quite remarkable that

gatherings and activity. Several layers of land-

we built our community without our built struc-

scaped and structural boundaries create public

tures. We all have different backgrounds and are

and private boundaries to help delineate your

of varying ages and nationalities, but we all have

home, your neighbor's home, and the shared

a common interest in community and reducing

common space. These boundaries include side-

our carbon footprint.

walks, walkways, gardens, a small fence, hedges,

outdoor sculptures, banisters, and your front

the public through educational programming in

door. These simple layering methods allow each

2021 to teach, advocate and inspire other cities

house to have individual characteristics and

to adopt cottage ordinances — and for develop-

subtlety define property and privacy.

ers to build these types of projects across the

nation. We are just one of many examples of how

design patterns to incorporate. The Cottages on

to utilize space, layout, and structures to drive

Vaughan utilizes shared common areas, nesting

a better-connected community to its surround-

of houses, clustered parking, a garden, and

ings.

gathering space. Visitors don't see the psychol-

ogy and sociology built into the layout, design,

must lower our fences, cluster our homes, and

and neighbor interactions. The project takes it

trade those secret recipes for community good.

one step further by working with Roots Down

to develop a productive urban landscape that

microlifeinstitute.org/clarkston or reach out at

allows the community to grow food while adding

info@microlifeinstitute.org. For examples and

another engagement in building friendships and

templates to adopt a cottage court ordinance

community.

and to find pocket neighborhood design pat-

terns, go to pocket-neighborhoods.net.

The pandemic did not stop like-minded

The future of design is community. We

If you want to learn more, please visit

WILL JOHNSTON

There are various pocket neighborhood

The Cottages on Vaughan will be open to

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www.whiting-turner.com Construction Management | General Contracting Design-Build | Integrated Project Delivery CD_Guest House at Graceland_B103_half-hor_ART.pdf

8/16/18

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Real projects start with the industry standard

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Before they broke ground, HBG Design ensured the Guest House at Graceland™ Resort was protected with AIA contracts. AIA Contract Documents used: B103-Owner/Architect Agreement for a Complex Project, C401-Architect/Consultant Agreement, E201-Digital Data Protocol Exhibit, plus associated administrative G-forms. Learn more at aiacontracts.org/aiachapter

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