Buckhead Green

Project Description

Buckhead is a major commercial and financial center in the northern area of Atlanta, Georgia. This area is the third-largest business district in the city, and is attracting unprecedented levels of multifamily construction. Despite this, the community lacks any significant public space. The Buckhead Community Improvement District (CID) desired to study the possibilities and craft a vision for a new central open space in Buckhead. The purpose of the Buckhead Green Vision Study was to determine the viability of creating a nine-plus acre deck park over Interstate GA 400 and the Buckhead Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Station between the Atlanta Financial Center and Lenox Buckhead Loop. This study is rooted in a strong interest to improve the green infrastructure in Buckhead, as well as to leverage transit and open space to unlock economic development. The Buckhead Green will significantly enhance and expand on-going improvement efforts, and provide an opportunity for a great urban park in an area where open land is not available. The cost of assembling such a property would likely exceed five million dollars per acre. In that context, construction of a highway deck park is a realistic choice due to its potential for substantial economic growth impacts in the area and quality of life improvement within the community.

Our team crafted a signature vision for the Park including new and improved MARTA portals, event spaces, dynamic urban plazas, restaurants and cafes, and iconic gateway elements. The innovative design incorporates sculptural elements in architecture and landscape architecture to establish an identity for the Park set within the architecturally noteworthy Buckhead District. In addition to the architectural design, the multi-disciplinary design team provided benchmarking, engineering fatal flaw analysis, preliminary economic analysis, urban design, and landscape architecture vision planning. The team’s Vision Study focused on creating a variety of spatial relationships, features, and characteristics that blend together to provide a variety of experiences and flexible uses. These spaces and uses combine to form the framework of a park able to accommodate events large and small; from informal meetings between friends, to festivals, or the start of the Peachtree Road Race. The urban form is complimented by a variety of design opportunities such as fountains, artwork, topography, benches, and plantings providing year-round appeal to a diverse and growing population. The Park’s appeal will drive further investment and value generation in neighboring real estate commensurate with an improvement in quality of life for residents.

Buckhead already has most elements of a Great City: architecturally significant towers, internationally known shopping, and outstanding restaurants. Once built, the Park will become a central and defining place for the Buckhead community. Buckhead Green will be a postcard moment, the “hero shot” every major city desires, and where “everybody goes.”