Landscape Architect Articles

LATICRETE Named "Supplier of The Year'   by CTDA05-29-15 | News

LATICRETE Named "Supplier of The Year'   by CTDA

LATICRETE International received the Ceramic Tile Distributor's Association's "Supplier of the Year' during the Coverings'15 show in Orlando, April 14. The honoree is selected by blind balloting of CTDA members. LATICRETE North America representatives from left: Ron Nash, vp of sales and marketing; Rob Smith, director of sales, and Ed Metcalf, president.

Over the last year the planners and landscape architects of GAI Consultants, Inc. (GAI) have been working closely with the city of Charleston, W.V. and its stakeholders by providing master planning services for Slack Plaza.

Charleston (50,821), the capital of West Virginia, is the state's largest city and sits at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers.

The plaza is planned as the hub of the downtown's entertainment district, linking the historic and business districts. It represents one of the first major planning and construction projects that have evolved from the "Imagine Charleston" study that GAI was also involved with several years ago.

As a "spin off" from the design work that is currently underway for Slack Plaza, the landscape architecture and planning group has been asked by the Kanawha Valley Rapid Transit Authority to redesign their transit mall, along with a 3-block stretch of Laidley Street in downtown Charleston. The goal of the design is to move the transit mall to the south of the plaza so it will no longer be in conflict with the pedestrian circulation through the plaza. The design will also create a needed linear greenway connecting Haddad Riverfront Park to the downtown entertainment district.

The origins of improving Slack Plaza go back to 2010 when Charleston applied for assistance from the Greening America's Capitals https://tinyurl.com/mawrr6z. An EPA team and landscape architects Origin 4 Design engaged the community in a three-day design workshop to gather input, and presented the city with design concepts and strategies to consider.