Mixing Business With Pleasure

By Nathan Logan

In 2012, the city of Alpharetta, Ga., embarked on a journey that will transform the city for generations. The wealthy suburb of Atlanta, with an estimated population of around 65,000, had long been a popular destination for young families moving out of the Atlanta area and also a growing technology business sector. But like many suburban communities, it lacked a true identity and a place where the community could connect. Mayor David Belle Isle, city council, David M. Schwarz Architects, and Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Associates (SRSS) set out on a master planning effort to change the image of the city and create a “place” for everyone to call home.

The city has always prided itself on being a “Tree City,” as recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation, and felt it was important that the new city center incorporate a substantial amount of green space as part of its new identity. SRSS was tasked with designing and developing a 5-acre city park, a 1-acre town square, a pocket park between the new city hall and new county library, and a tree-lined streetscape to connect the new downtown to neighboring sites.

Community Involvement
As many public-facility managers are aware, designing a park with the community's involvement can be a difficult task. This project was no exception. Many residents were very concerned about the preservation of existing trees and their incorporation into the city center and park design. SRSS took its standard approach of transparency to help alleviate those concerns. A detailed inventory of the existing trees was taken, a review of their overall health by a certified arborist was administered, and several city council meetings were held to communicate this information to the community and to review design implications. By involving the community at this stage, we were able to demonstrate our thought process, listen to the community’s concerns, and develop a mutual trust moving forward.

Active Spaces
William “Holly” Whyte, an American urbanist and self-proclaimed people watcher, once stated, “It's hard to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” One of the goals for the design of the city’s new green spaces was to create places that people would often go to. Urban parks were originally designed so people could escape the harshness of city life. The best parks today also include active uses and are a driver of community development.

The city wanted its parks to be active spaces where the community could gather, neighbors could meet, and children could develop memories they would carry into adulthood, making them yearn to return home. As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life,” and the same is true in designing outdoor spaces. The more variety and flexibility of activities that are built into the design, the more choices end-users will have in utilizing the space for their needs.

Town Square
The city has a strong community-development department with a full calendar of programming and activities. The town square was designed with this flexibility in mind. The design avoided physical obstructions to the greatest degree possible so the city had the ability to use the space for whatever events they currently had or would have in the future. A balance of hardscape and turf was achieved to allow for farmer’s market set-ups and festival tents, and plenty of open space for gathering and free-flowing circulation. An interactive fountain situated at one end of the square was designed so it could be turned off and a stage could be placed over the fountain for concerts.

City Park
For larger events, a natural amphitheater was designed for the backyard of the new city hall and part of the 5-acre city park. At the base of the amphitheater, a bandstand was placed to allow for performances of everything from orchestras to a small band to a singer-songwriter. The park was intentionally designed around the new city hall to further create a feeling of connection between the community and local government.

Many times, towns are arranged so government facilities are consolidated in an area where people would only go if they specifically had business with the government. At night, these areas become ghost towns. The designer’s intent was to immerse the government in the community’s daily activities so elected officials and government employees were “living life” alongside their constituents. City Administrator Bob Regus says officials have seen an “immediate shift in the way our city hall engages the public. With families enjoying the green spaces on a daily basis, the workings of the city government have become much more accessible and welcoming.”

Best practices were used in designing the pathways through the park by avoiding critical root zones of existing trees and the right angles that become maintenance nightmares in public parks. When it was unavoidable to infringe on critical root zones, the contractors were asked to only use hand-grading in these areas and—where possible—bridge over the critical zones with structural soil in lieu of cutting into the grade and the roots. A mature tree canopy was an important part of the park concept and sense of place. The intent was that, when people visited the new park, they would assume the park had been there for generations. With that in mind, the designers saved and transplanted several mature specimen trees, and all new plantings were of a well-established size at installation.

The idea was to use fewer but larger plants to further the narrative of an established park. The palette consisted of traditional southern plants that could have easily been found in nurseries in the early 1900s; the designers avoided the nursery plant du jour to keep the landscape timeless, and avoid a dated look for a park that would hopefully be around for generations. A group of engaged citizens was also recruited by the design team to incorporate an arboretum into the new park. A list of trees was included in the planting design, and the designers helped locate the trees in areas where they would be accessible on an “Arboretum Walk” through the park.

Multi-Purpose Park
One of the most popular spaces is a formal garden that serves a variety of purposes, such as a formal entry to the new park, an intimate event space for weddings and parties, and a breakout space between city hall and the county library. On any given day, families can be seen picnicking and reading books while city employees have meetings and others pose for weddings pictures. Parks bordered by active buildings inherently create active spaces. This theory of triangulation is a good practice to keep in mind when planning the location of parks.

Designing a place for people must include the input of the people for whom it is being designed. Active uses are to be incorporated into the design as well as flexibility for the programming of other active uses. The old adage is true that people go where people go. All a design team needs to do is create the spark and provide the space!

Nathan Logan, RLA, is a Landscape Architect at Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc., in Atlanta, Ga. He can be reached at nlogan@srssa.com.