Simply Refined

By Jenny Boyle, regional editor

Paved terraces were added to the north and south sides of Evans Dining Hall to accommodate everyday mealtime activities as well as campus programming. Older steps were removed from the north patio and the area was graded to provide a gentler slope. The linear space accommodates 30 to 40 people and though it has a four-foot grade, the designers made the space accessible without the need for a ramp or guardrails. The larger south terrace was given a more intricate paver design and is used primarily for special events and larger gatherings. Both spaces use brick walls and precast concrete capstones to disguise grade changes and provide additional informal seating.

The cluttered, hard-to-maintain grounds of the Agnes Scott College campus were in dire need of a makeunder when designers from Carol R. Johnson Associates arrived in Decatur, Ga., back in 1997. Over the past eight years, the campus has transformed from a mish mash of outside spaces into one streamlined community.

For you longtime readers, the name Carol Johnson might ring a bell. In 1999, she wrote an article for us about small campus landscape planning, featuring her master plan for Agnes Scott College. Since that time, her design has come to life?EUR??,,????'???through several phases and an update of the original master plan. We are glad to say that Johnson can put her money where her mouth is. Many of the concepts she spoke of back then, have gorgeously come to life and continue to be implemented.

?EUR??,,????'??I tend to be a simple kind of designer,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson, an award-winning landscape architect. ?EUR??,,????'??I seek the right simplicity?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???a unity and an identity in the larger landscape. To do that, one can use a simple palette that is adjusted to fulfill the goals of the whole project.?EUR??,,????'?? In the late 90s, ?EUR??,,????'??simple?EUR??,,????'?? was not a word that described the landscape at Agnes Scott.

Carol R. Johnson Associates completed its initial comprehensive landscape master plan in 1999. Within the plan, the firm made recommendations for the campus perimeter, lighting, plantings, pedestrian pathways, and irrigation systems to guide the college?EUR??,,????'???s evolution into the 21st Century through planned architectural expansion. Since that time, the firm has consulted on over 20 projects and continues to oversee new phases of construction. The Master Plan was updated in 2003.

After completing an overall campus master plan, administrators at the liberal arts women?EUR??,,????'???s college realized the importance of the campus space and determined that a landscape plan was essential to the revitalization of the school. Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s firm was enlisted to create a master plan that would be implemented in phases alongside the restoration of several buildings.

?EUR??,,????'??We came on board when there had been a general commitment to rehabilitation of the campus,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson. ?EUR??,,????'??Our goal was to give identity to the campus and to create memorable places.?EUR??,,????'??

Eric Lucas, one of Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s newest associates at the time, was part of the team that developed the initial master plan. ?EUR??,,????'??The first thing we tried to do was inventory what they had,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??The buildings acted as the background for the campus. Then we analyzed the pathways, lighting, site furnishings, and circulation patterns and tried to make sense of it all.?EUR??,,????'??

 

Before the redesign, site furnishings lacked uniformity throughout campus.

When Woodruff Quadrangle was redesigned to be more pedestrian-friendly, the designers established ?EUR??,,????'??families?EUR??,,????'?? of site furnishings along the new brick-paved walkways. Standardized benches, light posts and trash receptacles were chosen to give a sense of unity no matter where a student is on campus.

As it stood, the campus had no unifying features. Plantings and trees were overgrown and misplaced, parking areas were situated in the middle of the central quad area, and hardscape dominated much of the open spaces around the site. The Johnson team made it their goal to create a cohesive landscape by highlighting the school?EUR??,,????'???s historic trees and beautiful architecture and removing virtually anything that took attention away from those features.

Plantings

When members of Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s firm first arrived at Agnes Scott, they met with a landscape that, according to Lucas, was ?EUR??,,????'??really struggling.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??They had a huge problem with maintaining their grounds and a huge problem with the landscape being cohesive throughout,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??Our goal was to simplify the landscape and let it serve as the fabric that connected the whole campus.?EUR??,,????'??

Lucas says that maintenance crews were overwhelmed with the state of the landscape?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???and it showed. ?EUR??,,????'??There was mulch everywhere,?EUR??,,????'?? he chuckles. ?EUR??,,????'??They laid it down where shade prevented light from reaching the grass and also where students had made their own pathways across the turf.?EUR??,,????'??

Before: The original granite sitting wall and paved steps obstructed a vista directly to the campus center and library and caused water runoff issues.

After: Designers removed the sitting wall and added a fescue lawn with intersecting paved walkways. Plantings were minimized to showcase the mature trees in the area and an irrigation system was installed that pumps water from a detention basin on campus.

Furthermore, plantings that were too close to the buildings were causing significant maintenance issues due to dropping leaves and branches that fell on gutters, roofs and windows. ?EUR??,,????'??The buildings were beautiful and didn?EUR??,,????'???t need foundation plantings,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson. ?EUR??,,????'??The plantings seemed to actually detract from the response to the larger landscape.?EUR??,,????'??

The firm tried to make maintenance less of an effort for the in-house crew by creating a campus-wide plant scheme. They worked with the University of Georgia?EUR??,,????'???s list of native plant species and developed categories of plants related to their place on campus.

?EUR??,,????'??We came up with seven or eight categories and when an individual project came up, we would choose from those lists,?EUR??,,????'?? explains Lucas. ?EUR??,,????'??For example, at building entrances, we used more shrubs; in main quads we would not use shrubs at all, we would use trees.Our goal was to develop a landscape that made sense in the overall context of the campus.?EUR??,,????'??

Tree Preservation

Because Agnes Scott has a reputation for beautiful, historic trees, Johnson was intent on creating a design that showcased them. ?EUR??,,????'??There are some extraordinary trees on campus,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson. ?EUR??,,????'??All the special heirloom trees we tried to keep because they give such an identity to the place.?EUR??,,????'??

Above: Curvilinear pathways have become a standard at Agnes Scott College. Because the campus has many grade changes, implementing a curved walkway makes traversing slopes much easier.

The City of Decatur Tree Preservation Ordinance requires that when trees are lost through redevelopment, they must be moved or replaced so that the net number of trees never changes. This posed an interesting challenge when the team was developing the landscape plan. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s a great ordinance because it protects existing trees,?EUR??,,????'?? says Lucas.

?EUR??,,????'??For us, it meant that we would have to develop responsibly. It was a challenge because with each project, we had to calculate the number of trees that would be affected, the number we would plant, and the number that would remain.?EUR??,,????'??

The road leading into former parking areas of Woodruff Quadrangle was made into a pedestrian walk. The campus had already begun using pre-cast concrete pavers by Paver Systems in other areas of campus, so the design team carried them on through the newly renovated quad area. By removing the parking areas from the center of campus, the pavement width decreased from 26 feet to 12 feet, significantly reducing the amount of impermeable surface.

The team worked with a consulting arborist who gave advice on the longevity of the trees and the team was able to plan accordingly. ?EUR??,,????'??It made for very creative solutions,?EUR??,,????'?? says Lucas. ?EUR??,,????'??We had to site buildings differently, develop circulation patterns differently?EUR??,,????'???other times we had to use special installation detailing to avoid damaging roots under ground.?EUR??,,????'??

Lucas explains that installing utility and irrigation lines sometimes meant tunneling instead of trenching?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???a practice that takes longer and is more expensive. But getting the best use of those priceless trees was well worth the extra effort?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???they are the basis of Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s simplistic approach to the design.

An Evergreen Lawn

Green lawns are a tradition at many universities, but having them takes work?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'???a lot of work in this case. When Johnson and her associates began developing the landscape master plan, they proposed the idea of creating a campus green. At the time, the school had no irrigation system and several storm water management issues due to the amount of paving that covered the campus. Installing an evergreen lawn would require a completely new maintenance program, especially since few grasses grow beneath mature trees. But it was a decision agreed upon by all parties.

Today, Woodruff Quadrangle is the heart of Agnes Scott College. Re-grading the western half of the quad created an amphitheatre-like setting that lends itself to more activities than were possible before.

?EUR??,,????'??We had many conversations about the grass,?EUR??,,????'?? says Lucas. ?EUR??,,????'??The type that would give a year-round green lawn meant having to have irrigation throughout campus. They would be required to do more pruning to let more light down to the surface of the lawn, they needed to overseed in spring, and they would have to aerate and fertilize the lawn.?EUR??,,????'??

Specifiying a proper irrigation system was an even bigger undertaking. ?EUR??,,????'??We didn?EUR??,,????'???t want to pull off the city water supplies to water the lawns,?EUR??,,????'?? says Lucas. ?EUR??,,????'??We thought the better thing to do was to develop a storm water retention area.?EUR??,,????'??

The team enlisted the help of the engineering firm, U.R.S. Corporation, to design a detention basin that would collect storm water and runoff. The pond is continually replenished by wells that are drilled into the pond, creating a sustainable way of irrigating the campus while reducing maintenance.

Quad Restoration

Though it was supposed to be the central gathering space on campus, the original Woodruff Quadrangle did not do much in the way of bringing students together.

It consisted of a large expanse of hardscaping, with two terraces, steps, and a granite sitting wall that obscured vistas into the space. Two areas of the quad were also designated for parking, which had become a problem over the years as more and more vehicles drove through campus. ?EUR??,,????'??You couldn?EUR??,,????'???t see the whole space or get a sense that it was the core of the campus,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson.

The team wanted to give the area more character by removing much of the hardscape and focusing on the trees and newly planted lawn. The first order of business was to tear down the wall and eliminate the parking from the center of campus. Parking areas were moved to the outside of campus, freeing up a 1/4 acre of extra green space. To further accommodate the pedestrian feel, the street that ran alongside Woodruff Quadrangle was converted into a brick-paved walkway and designed for emergency vehicle access only. ?EUR??,,????'??In doing that, we decreased the pavement width from 26 feet to 12 feet,?EUR??,,????'?? says Lucas. ?EUR??,,????'??We saved a lot of impermeable surface.?EUR??,,????'??

After tearing down the paved steps and the sitting wall, the team went to work, creating paved paths along desire lines, removing unnecessary plantings, replacing the lost seating with new site furnishings and implementing standard light poles and signage. They also redesigned the two entrances to the quad to distinguish it as a main gathering place.

One of the school?EUR??,,????'???s biggest concerns was preserving the several hundred mature trees on campus. Under the guidance of an arborist, and rules set by the City of Decatur?EUR??,,????'???s Tree Preservation Ordinance, the design team began a major tree renewal program that continues today. In fact, the entire layout of the new landscape aimed to simplify the elements around the trees, in order to better showcase them.

?EUR??,,????'??It was necessary to give that space a unique identity,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson. ?EUR??,,????'??We built a modest low wall with some brick tiers and used that detail at both the main entrances to the quad. It gave it a much more distinctive character than any other space on the campus.?EUR??,,????'??

Lucas says the transformation into a single, graded slope has made all the difference in how the space is used. ?EUR??,,????'??The quad is now the heart of the campus,?EUR??,,????'?? he says. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s the place where all the students meet. It?EUR??,,????'???s the number one outdoor space.?EUR??,,????'??

Accessibility

One of the most interesting aspects of the redesign at Agnes Scott can be seen in the use of graded slopes and curvilinear pathways that lead to and from the buildings on campus. In this day of ADA accessibility, designs can be hindered by the presence of ramps and guardrails. Johnson was happy to take on the challenge of making the many grades and slopes accessible without affecting the ornate architecture of the buildings.

?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s one of my favorite things to work on places that people can enjoy,?EUR??,,????'?? she says. ?EUR??,,????'??I like to work with three dimensions, the grade change, the change of view?EUR??,,????'???Agnes Scott provided the sorts of spaces and grade changes that are fun to work with. It was quite an ideal situation for us.?EUR??,,????'??

In several areas of the campus, the original landscape had abrupt grade changes leading into buildings. The team incorporated subtly curved walkways and kept slopes under five percent, which made traversing inclines less of a challenge. The additional use of brick walls and precast concrete capstones further disguised any slopes. The best example of this was with the area surrounding Evans Dining Hall.

Christopher Jones, a principal with Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s firm, was in charge of redesigning the main entrance to the building, as well as creating terraces on its north and south sides. ?EUR??,,????'??He did an absolutely stunning job,?EUR??,,????'?? raves Johnson.

The original area included paved steps that led down to a seating area. Jones removed much of that hardscaping, changed the grade slightly, and incorporated low brick walls around each of the terraces, which eliminated the need for guardrails and made the look of steps and ramps more appealing.

The curved pathways and low brick walls have become trademark at Agnes Scott. As new phases of the master plan have been implemented, Johnson?EUR??,,????'???s firm continues to develop accessible pathways, avoiding guardrails and handrails whenever possible.

Achieving Unity

The Agnes Scott College campus has seen quite a transformation since Carol Johnson first introduced us to it. Her overall goal of a simplified, unified landscape design has brought a sense of connection to all parts of the campus. By standardizing everything from the plants to the site furnishings, the team created a simple, cohesive space.

?EUR??,,????'??There is a greater unity in the campus landscape than there was before,?EUR??,,????'?? she says. Lucas has been at the forefront of all project development and continues to oversee new phases as they are implemented. He says the college has really benefited from the working relationship that exists between them.

?EUR??,,????'??The people at Agnes Scott are great to work with,?EUR??,,????'?? Lucas says. ?EUR??,,????'??They?EUR??,,????'???ve been very open to the ideas we brought to the table.?EUR??,,????'??

Johnson is hopeful that her firm will continue to work with Agnes Scott in the future. ?EUR??,,????'??One never knows how long clients feel they need us,?EUR??,,????'?? says Johnson, ?EUR??,,????'??but I hope more of the master plan will be completed. They have a beautiful site, but it needs to be handled with a lot of attention.?EUR??,,????'??