BLUE HERON NATURE PRESERVE
ATLANTA’S ARTIST RESIDENCY
This document was created by eightvillage, a place-based design consultancy seeking to create positive change in communities and the environment.
135 Auburn Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30303 info@eightvillage.com www.eightvillage.com
CONTENTS 7
A LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY
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A HAVEN FOR NATURE AND ART
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ATLANTA’S ARTIST RESIDENCY
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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
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DESIGN VISION
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A LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY The art programming at Blue Heron has grown extensively since the inaugural art show in 2011. From the support of the community, one art show grew into four annual shows which laid the foundation for larger ventures. Now, we show quarterly art shows in the dedicated gallery space, host the Artist-in-Residency program, and curate the annual 6-week outdoor installation titled Art of Nature. Art of Nature is a site-specific outdoor art show based on a naturalist theme which has ranged from “Listening to the Waters” to “Interconnectivity”. Each year, Art of Nature is unveiled at the Earth Day Celebration in April. Both events have grown in sync and have become the largest event hosted at Blue Heron, pulling in hundreds of art and nature lovers. The Artist-in-Residency was groundbreaking for Atlanta when we launched the program in 2016. Now, the Artist-in-Residence hosts a solo show in the gallery and leaves a piece of that show behind for the Blue Heron permanent art collection. The previous artists-in-residence have included Jiha Moon, Hannah Israel, and Tim Hunter. With interest and demand growing, the Artist-in-Residency program is gaining momentum and gallery spaces are becoming a higher priority need for the artists of Atlanta. Blue Heron is the perfect place to host gallery spaces in awe-inspiring nature while remaining within the City of Atlanta. This project, with the help of Eightvillage, will create free-standing artist studios with low environmental impacts. Won’t you join us in celebrating and supporting art and nature in Atlanta? SALLY EPPSTEIN - ART DIRECTOR, BHNP
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It’s not what you look at that matters, It’s what you see. HENRY DAVID THOREAU
A HAVEN FOR NATURE AND ART The Blue Heron Nature Preserve is a regional amentity of over 30 acres of preserved nature and wildlife. Since 2016, the Blue Heron has offered an artist-in-residence program, allowing local artists to immerse themselves within the preserve to inspire their work. The opportunity to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life into the serenity of nature allows an artist the solice and opportunity for self-reflection to create. The Blue Heron has been innovative in allowing for art and nature to co-exist within the preserve, showing the synergy between the two while respecting the existing landscape and ecoogy of the place.
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“Great art picks up where nature ends...� Marc Chagall
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ATLANTA’S ARTIST RESIDENCY The Blue Heron offers an opportunity for art and nature to co-exist within the urban fabric of the City of Atlanta. It truly allows an artist to be immersed in the “city in a forest” within the BHNP. The residency has the potential to become Atlanta’s premiere residency program for local artists to escape and co-habitat with nature and wildlife within the city.
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WHY AN ARTIST RESIDENCY AT BHNP? REGIONAL ACCESS Connections to PATH 400 and Chastain Park via upcoming Blueway Trail Located near MARTA (rail and bus via Roswell Road) and 400
30 ACRES OF NATURE IN THE CITY Miles of hiking trails and acres of preserved native habitat Wildlife includes blue heron and beavers,
EXISTING ARTS PROGRAMMING Established educational programming and residency program for a local artist Includes six-week outdoor art exhibition, “The Art of Nature”
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ENGAGEMENT On February 28th, BHNP and eighvillage hosted a design charrette with community stakeholders, members of the adjacent neighborhood, artists, representatives from the City of Atlanta and their staff. The charrette was held at Field Research Center, located adjacent to the new Blueway Trail and where the potential site for the artist residency may be.
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The agenda involved introductions to the nature preserve’s strategic vision of expanding the Blueway Trail to connect PATH 400 to Chastain Park. The arist residency would play a role as a the center for all art activity along the Blueway Trail. The charrette group walked the site and discussed potential site opportunities.
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DESIGN CHARRETTE The remaining portion of the charrette was a productive dialogue between the various stakeholder groups. The artists in the group were enthused about the opportunity for their to be an artist residency immersed in the context of the nature preserve. The group discussed the importance of any new structure to be contextual and “light� on the site. Neighborhood concerns centered around noise and that any new programming be quiter and concentrated in nature.
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The discussion also focussed on the need for the artist residency to have flexibility in its programming. A potential space would need to be able to host activities such as: artist exhibitions, educational programming for children, cooking demonstrations and general event space. Potential facilities for the artist residency included: event space (with demonstration kitchen), potential overnight stay (though not required), up to 3 artist studios and workshops.
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WHAT ARE THE GOALS FOR THE ARTIST RESIDENCY? SENSITIVE TO NATURE AND CONTEXT + Preserve existing natural conditions, including: - Native habitats - Native plants, including the “meadow” - Existing topography and existing run-off - Blueway Trail + Be value congruent to immediate context, such as the mecocosyms and neighbors + Include educational programming for BHNP’s mission
ARTIST PROGRAMMING + Incorporate the following facilities: - Artist studios (up to 3) and flexible workshops - Event space for artist exhibitions, lectures, community events, etc - Demonstration kitchen (potential for “chef-in-residence”) - Storage + Include programming for multimedia, sculpture, spoken word and music (acoustical) + Create revenue generating facilities such as event space and workshops + Target local Atlanta artists + Be accessible to a wide demographic of artists (lower-income, single moms, etc)
ARCHITECTURAL STRATEGIES + Elevate building on piers to allow for: - Existing run-off to flow (i.e. being “light” on the site) - Create a sense of procession and inspiration for artists + Be contextual to surroundings; incorporate natural materials + Incoroporate indoor/outdoor interactions and views to nature + Allow for public interaction with porches, but secure building with private entry + Incorporate net-zero strategies, including: - Passive ventilation - Natural light + solar energy - Composting toilets - Rainwater collection + Provide flexibility: - Event space should host a multitude of progams - Residency should be design for potential expansion into overnight stay 24
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DESIGN The Land-O-Lakes property of the preserve has been identified as the most appropriate place to locate the artist residency. The vision includes constructing new artist residency studios, a collaborative workshop, and an expansion of the curent Field Research Center to accomodate for larger events and educational workshops.
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The footprint of the current FRC will be expanded upon with a new multi-use structure to accomodate BHNP programming and new artist programming. In addition, smaller artist lofts will be constructed as small artist studios. The design aims to achieve a high level of ecological conservation, sustainbility, and design integrity.
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PROGRAMMING BREAKDOWN FIELD RESEARCH CENTER + 1000 sf of leaseable flex event space - Expansion of current footprint of FRC - Accomodates up to 100 person events - Flexible for events and educational workshops - Indoor/outdoor allows for event space to be expanded to outdoors + 250 sf of office - Auxilliary to main BHNP office
ARTIST WORKSHOP
+ 500 sf of leaseable work space - Open shared workspace - Can be a collaborative space - Can be provided to BHNP Artist-in-Residence
ARTIST LOFTS + 500-750 sf of leaseable artist lofts - 2-3 small footprint artist studios (150-250 sf each) - Flexible for day or night stay
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SITE PLAN
SITE DESIGN The primary objective of the site plan is to accomodate the required programming elements while being sensitive to the existing context and preserving existing ecological functions. Important ecological and park elements to be preserved include the wild meadows and Blueway Trail. Options were explored in siting the artist lofts in relation to the multi-use building. Our main concern was the separation of artist spaces and public spaces, ensuring private access to artist spaces and limiting their adjaceny to the Blueway Trail.
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OPTION 1
OPTION 2
OPTION 3
OPTION 4
Building over the existing FRC footprint is a new multi-use facility accomodating expanded area for BHNP programming. Also included in the building is the open artist workspace. The building will be flexible enough to expand events into an outdoor courtyard and patio. Our strategy evaluated several options, but all included the demolition of the existing garage. This existing footprint, however, guides the footprint of proposed new construction.
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PROGRAMMING PLAN OF MULTI-USE FACILITY
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MULTI-USE FACILITY: LONG SECTION (TOP), SHORT SECTION OF EVENT SPACE (BOTTOM)
The multi-use facility is an extension of the existing FRC building footprint. It maximizes the conservation of the meadow and is oriented towards the trail and creek. It steps down with the topography and separates artist spaces from more public spaces. The facility can accomodate artist galleries and art events that can bleed into an adjacent courtyard. It can also host FRC events and other educational programming. The building acts as a gateway for the Blueway Trail into the Land O’ Lakes site.
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ARTIST LOFT: PERSPECTIVE (TOP), SECTION (BOTTOM)
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Our approach to the architecture of the proposed new structures is to embrace the surrounding lanscape and celebrate the preserve. The artist lofts will be built as pier-and-beam structures in order to be raised from the landscape below and be as light in impact on the site as possible. Stormwater will be directed to flow exactly as before. Porches will open up to the Blueway Trail to allow for art to be presented, though access will be private and away from public view.
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MULTI-USE FACILITY OVERALL
The multi-use facility incoporates better connectivity on the site by negotiating the topography from the top of hill down to the trail. Courtyards and outdoor space are framed by the building to allow for indoor functions to bleed to the outside as needed. Glazing on the building is oriented to the north and south to maximize daylight and minimize heat gain. The roof design not only directs water to cisterns for collection, but also gives a subtle nod to the neck of the blue heron bird.
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COVERED COURTYARD AND EVENT SPACE
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CASE STUDY: MARINE EDUCATION CENTER / OCEAN SPRINGS, MS 38
+Create a gateway for the Blue Way Trail + Allow for flexibility for events and educational programming + Incoporate views and connections to nature 39
CASE STUDY: SHANGRI LA NATURE CENTER / ORANGE, TX 40
+ Allow for flexibility of indoor/outdoor programming + Include areas for educational activities + Incoporate views and connections to nature 41
CASE STUDY: RIVER BEND RESIDENCES / NEW BRAUNFELS, TX
CASE STUDY: ROLLING HUTS / MAZAMA, WA 42
+ Utilize post-and-beam foundation to minimize impact on the site + Small footprint studios within the trees and nature + Incoporate porches and private access 43
Conceptual Project Budget*
Estimated Pre-Construction Costs
Fee Estimates (Range)
Architect+MEP+Structural Engineer Landscape Architect Civil Engineer Updated Survey Total Pre-Construction Costs w/o LBC Living Building Challenge**
Construction Costs Artists Loft (3 Lofts) Field Research Center Total Project Costs***
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Low-end Costs
High-end Costs
*Budget is detailed at a conceptual level. Costs are estimated based off of a cost comparison to the case study projects and assume a similar standard of design and construction. All costs are subject to change upon further design exploration and detail. **Living Building Challenge estimate is based off of prior experience of working on an LBC project. Cost is primarily for architect and energy consultant fees for material research, coordination, energy analysis, and documenting energy consumption over the first year of building occupancy. ***Add Living Building Challenge line item for total project cost with LBC Certification.
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SUPPORT OUR VISION Help us to cultivate the creative talent of Atlanta’s artists at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. Your support is vital to the creation of this innovative vision and the expansion of Blue Heron’s artist programming.
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