Robert Lake Park is a popular recreation area set in the woods along Flat Creek. The park renovation included custom-designed wooden play structures and a treehouse, picnic shelter, accessible boardwalk, pathways, picnic tables, benches, stone retaining wall, and plantings. The plan was coordinated with an engineering firm’s work for streambank restoration along Flat Creek.

As part of the historic courthouse renovation, this North Carolina Main Street award winning project included the redesign of the courthouse plaza, grounds, and parking lot. The plaza features a “Memorial Walk” with numerous monuments commemorating past wars and veterans. Other features include benches, plantings, lighting, and  brick paving with central insignia reflecting the architecture of the courthouse.

The master plan for this 3.3-acre site includes an outdoor learning classroom and pavilion, accessible paths, perimeter trail, stormwater demonstration features, picnic area, a meadow, ancillary building, and a variety of demonstration gardens to teach the public and school children about various horticultural and environmental topics.

The 3-acre school yard is designed around universal design principals including the needs of students with physical and sensory challenges. The master plan includes a looping accessible trail system connecting to several play areas with equipment that encourages group interaction. Other features include a deck with seating, bridges, a hill slide, sports field, court play, art wall, meadow, and sound garden. Opportunities for educational and sensory play will be provided along the path in future phases. The accessible path system was carefully designed to avoid impacting the existing large canopy trees and a rain garden captures stormwater runoff and provide learning opportunities for the students. 

After investigating several possible sites for the memorial garden, a level wooded area along Flat Creek was selected. The memorial garden nestles into the woods with a minimum of site disturbance. The garden includes a stone entry structure, columbarium, path, gathering spaces, seating, meditation garden, and native plantings. The columbarium wall was designed to be expanded and demand for niches was so high that an expansion occurred within two years of initial construction. Please click the link below for the video and experience the garden yourself. Montreat Memorial Garden Video

The community center is in an old school building which has been repurposed for community use. The building was not accessible, so the master plan was created to reroute vehicular traffic and pedestrian flow to create an accessible route into the building and add landscape amenities such as a picnic shelter, walking paths, and trees. 

The church embarked on a multi-million dollar expansion requiring the entire church property be brought up to code with the City of Asheville landscape ordinance. The new playground was integrated into the architectural fabric of the historic church. The custom-designed play structures match the church’s dome and incorporate several other architectural details of the church. Other play elements include a trike track and sand play areas. Plantings include trees, ornamental grasses, an herb garden, and a planted berm to protect the playground from the adjacent busy street.

The landscape renovation included a planting design for the front and side of the church to create a more welcoming and visually pleasing entrance.

Design team member focusing on an invasive plant removal plan and new native plantings along the future greenway and at the trailheads. A linear bioretention area will be built along the Town Branch greenway to capture stormwater from the adjacent impervious pavement. The planting plan for the bioretention area featuring a wide variety of native wetland and upland plants.

A new playground was constructed in the bottom of a heavily wooded ravine, requiring careful attention to placement of the structures and path in order to preserve trees and minimize grading. A stairway and an 800-foot accessible path lead from the community center and parking lot to the playground and connects with the existing greenway system.