Senior Project

Atlanta Beltline Regional Masterplan: Creating Community Spaces for People in the Reynoldstown Neighborhood

by

Thomas Preston Brame

A Senior Design Project Presented to the College of Environment and Design University of Georgia Under the Direction of: Professor Verma In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Landscape Architecture

Athens, Georgia Spring, 2012

Atlanta Beltline| Reynoldstown Region

1 | Title Page

Table of Contents 3

Statement of Purpose

5

Site Location

6

Inventory / Analysis

10

Concept Designs

12

Final Masterplan

14

Site Plan

16

Section Elevations

17

Perspectives

18

Planting Plan

20

Staking Plan

21

Grading Plan

22

Construction Details

26

Signature Detail

28

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents | 2

Statement of Purpose My ideas started simply. Keep the trees, was one thought. Connect the neighborhood was another.

Reynoldstown is a lucky place, because it has been preserved in a time when there were still pedestrians, a time when people walked. There are still blocks and sidewalks.

It also has an industrial feeling that’s beautiful. It’s worn in and the bricks are aged.

Designing for a smaller community meant for me keeping the right scale and proportions. A grandiose plaza here would be wrong, because it can add nothing but empty space.

The integral elements I incorporated in designing are trees, water, walking space, and community.

Ecological Impact The importance of the boardwalk is that it avoids cut and fill, or cutting down all the trees and grading the soil to be flat. I loved the idea of a medieval past of people walking through a forest to each others’ houses.

Stormwater raises and lowers streams, making it unpredictable and difficult for creatures to live within or around the water.

4 | Statement of Purpose

This water running off hardscapes into watersheds typically carry a lot of chemicals and contaminants. I realized I wanted to take the polluted water, typically hidden underground in pipes, above and naturalize it.

I selected pervious brick pavers which allow some of the water to infiltrate the soil slowly. What doesn’t is carried along in pervious pipes, which have holes in them, to a rain garden. When the rain garden fills, the water is piped into vegetated swales, where it flows to a constructed wetland for a final infiltration. The site is designed to give the water that falls many viable routes to return to the watershed cleansed and have the rate of flow slowed.

Aesthetic Inspirations Cascading water is beautiful. The sheet fountain draws inspiration from modern graphic design and in the river drops of the Tallulah Gorge.

I modeled the café after tall rowhouse brick buildings in the neighborhood.

A grid of shade trees in plaza continues the native hardwood stand into the hardscape. The raised platforms give that important vitality to space and integrate with the boardwalk.

The design, by an attempt at accommodating people, sun, wind, trees and water, fulfills the planning necessary for small sites that are “physically and psychologically [...] comfortable,” as stated in The Social Life of Small Spaces

by William H. Whyte.

Site Location | 5

http://beltline.org/explore/maps/overview-maps/

Building Use

6 | Inventory & Analysis

Streets

Inventory & Analysis | 7

Site Conditions

8 | Inventory & Analysis

Photo Inventory

Inventory & Analysis | 9

Concept 1

10 | Preliminary Concepts

Concept 2

Preliminary Concepts | 11

Masterplan

Boardwalk

Roof-top Cafe 12 | Masterplan

Urban Forest Garden

Masterplan | 13

Site Plan 03

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KENYON AVENUE

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12

07 11 08

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14 | Site Design

09

WYLIE STREET

01 Rain Gardens 02 Pervious Pavement 03 Perforated Pipe 04 Vegetated Swale

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02 Site Design | 15

Section Elevations

Fountain

Sunken Plaza with Honey Locust Trees

Planter

Section Elevation A-A’

Rain Garden

Shaded Open Plaza

Fountain

Platform

Train Tracks

Platform

Section Elevation B-B’ 16 | Section Elevations

Site Perspectives

Perspectives | 17

Planting Plan QP

AR GT PV

AG

BN

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EA

AG AR

PV EA

PV 18 | Planting Plan

Plant Schedule Plant Schedule SYMBOL BOT. NAME

COMMON NAME

ZONE

SIZE

BLOOM TIME

FEATURES

AR

Acer rubrum 'October Glory'

October Glory Red Maple

4 to 9

Height:40' to 40' Spread: 30' to 40'

March; Red flowers

Brilliant red fall color from October to November; Low maintenance

AG

Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry Tree 4 to 9 Height: 15' to 25' Spread: 15' to 25'

April; White flowers

Produces edible fruit which are very popular with birds; aXracYve orange fall color

BN

Betula Nigra

River Birch

4 to 9 Height: 35' to 50' Spread: 25' to 40'

N/A

AXracYve exfoliaYng bark; yellow fall color

GT

Gleditsia triacanthos intermidia

Thornless Honey Locust

4 to 9 Height: 30' to 40' Spread: 25' to 35'

May to early June; Golden-­‐ AXracYve fine textured green flowers foliage; very urban tolerant

QP

Quercus phellos

Willow Oak

6 to 9 Height: 60' to 75' Spread: 40' to 50'

N/A

Tolerant of urban environments

EA

Equisetum arvense

Horsetail

3 to 9 Height: 1' to 4' Spread: 6" to 12"

N/A

Evergreen; very tolerant of wet soil; vigorous spread by rhisomes

IT

Itea virginica

Virginia Sweetspire

5 to 9 Height: 3' to 6' Spread: 4' to 6'

May to June; White flowers Shade tolerant; Flowers aXract buXerflie; drought tolerant

PV

Panicum virgatum 'Northwinds'

Northwinds Switchgrass

5 to 9 Height: 4' to 6' Spread: 24" to 30"

July to February; Yellow Flowers

PD

Phlox divaricata

Woodland Phlox

3 to 8

Trees

Shrubs & Perennials

Height: 8" to 12" Spread: 8" to 12"

April to May; Violet-­‐blue flowers

Tolerates dry and wet soils; verYcal form; stays upright through winter Tolerates dry and wet soils; verYcal form; stays upright through winter

Plant Photos AG

Amelachier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’

Betula nigra

Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’

GT

Gleditsia triacanthos intermidia

BN

AR

IT

Itea virginica

EA

Equisetum arvense

PV

Panicum virgatum ‘Northwinds’

QP

Quercus phellos

Planting Plan | 19

Staking Plan

20 | Staking Plan

Grading Plan

Grading Plan | 21

Retaining Wall Detail

22 | Construction Details

Pervious Paver Detail

Construction Details | 23

Bike Rack Detail

24 | Construction Details

CIP Stair Detail

Construction Details | 25

Sheet Fountain Detail

26 | Signature Detail

Signature Detail | 27

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my Wife Helen for being patient with me through late nights and crazy last minute fixes to projects before deadlines. Also for her artistic eye and attention to detail.

I would also like to thank my Mom and Dad and Mr. and Mrs. Burdette. Without you all’s help finishing would have been impossible and I am so excited to celebrate graduating with you soon.

Thank you to Professors and others in the college who taught me and helped me grow including: Prof. Cannady, Prof. Davis, Prof. Spooner, Prof. Buitrago, and more. A special thank you to Prof. Coyle who let me into the major despite my less than stellar academic record.

Lastly, I would like to thank the other staff at the school who make the College of Environmental Design worth spending 5 - 6 years in. Audra Lofton, Marsha Grizzle, David at Broad Street Studios, and the night cleaning crew in Caldwell.

Thank you for the special years here.

-Sincerely,

Thomas Brame

Bibliography Atlanta Beltline www.atlantabeltline.org Perkins and Will www.perkinswill.com Blend America Clothing - Seattle Building Massive Edible Forest Filled With Free Food http://blendamerica.com/2012/03/seattle-building-massive-edible-forest-filledfree-food/ 28 | Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement | 29