The New World of Coca Cola

By Leslie McGuire, managing editor

One large challenge was dealing with the elevation changes in the water garden area at the New World of Coca Cola. Part of what needed to be accomplished was a transition between the Aquarium and the Coca Cola attraction. The Aquarium is situated about ten feet higher, so they took advantage of the grade change as part of the water feature, while incorporating pedestrian movement with meandering paths through the garden.
Photo courtesy of Sitescapes LLC

The team provided the detailed landscape and hardscape design, including the border features, special paving and plantings. Through an acute awareness that spaces are not static elements, but constantly change in perception and experience, the firm developed an integrated environment that met the needs of the client. Of course, there were some changes and upgrades as they went along…

The original World of Coca Cola was one of the first corporate attractions in the world. Other corporations have since created similar attractions to celebrate their history. The Coca Cola Company decided to upgrade what they’d done originally and move their presentation into the next century.

Looking at the Master Site Plan prepared by Jerde Partnership, one can see that a quarter of the site is vacant and has been reserved for future development. Currently there are discussions about a Human Rights Museum, which ties in to Atlanta’s history and the history of Martin Luther King.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

Originally, there was a design competition for the project. The competition was held three or four years before Martin Haber, ASLA Principle, Roy Ashley Associates came into the project along with Project Landscape Architect, Eric Perez, ASLA. Jerde Partnership had won the competition and created the Master Plan that Haber and Perez, the Landscape Architects of record, worked from. As the Master Planner, Jerde worked closely with the leaders of The Coca Cola Company to translate the values of the company into alternative conceptual ideas for the property. As design architect, Jerde designed the building that houses the exhibits and showcases the history of the company, its products and reflects its core values.

The site had to be visually accessible. There is a low fence that matches the fence around Centennial Olympic Park and defines the edge of the site. All the entry points are extremely detailed and large enough so the site itself feels welcoming. For the main entry gate, the logo in interpreted as a sculpture, with the two leaves, covered in green mosaic tile, in high relief. The negative space forms the contour bottle.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

Located at Pemberton Place, the site is a “super block,” which is a contiguous area of land surrounded by the city street grid, but larger than a normal city block in downtown Atlanta. The Coca Cola Company donated part of the Pemberton Place site to the Georgia Aquarium, which is now sited on the north end of Centennial Olympic Park and adjacent to major open spaces. The idea was that the New World of Coca Cola would go next to the Aquarium, which would tie the two attractions together as well as expand the open space of Centennial Olympic Park. The Aquarium had been slated to be built across town, however, it was moved to Pemberton Place to create a synergy as well as a bigger open space network in the downtown area.

Stone paving on the terraces is cherry orchard fieldstone from Tennesee. Exposed aggregate was used in two or three different areas along with colored concrete used in the stencils such as the bubbles and the ribbons The walls have a slope profile that was part of the abstraction of the whole watershed area.
Photos courtesy of Sitescapes LLC

That synergy was basically designed by the chairman of The Coca Cola Company, who at the time, offered this site. The Aquarium then switched sites making it much more accessible to the existing Centennial Olympic Park.

Atlanta has a huge convention business and the Convention Center is also located downtown. Therefore, the site is used for other corporate events as well. The slopes above the terraces are planted with annuals and perennials as part of those garden spaces.
Photo courtesy of Sitescapes LLC

Looking at the site plan, one can see that a quarter of the site is vacant and has been reserved for future development. Currently there are discussions about a Human Rights Museum, which ties in to Atlanta’s history and the history of Martin Luther King.

Roy Ashley & Associates were hired to bring the project to reality through the detail construction. There were several primary challenges, the main one being the whole idea of the site being accessible to the public but also secure as far as The Coca Cola Company’s corporate requirements. The site had to be visually accessible. There is a low fence that matches the fence around park, which defines the boundaries. All the entry points are extremely detailed and large enough so the site feels welcoming. That was one of challenges as well. The city wanted to make sure the site wasn’t connected to Centennial Olympic Park, but was at the same time connected to the street on all sides. The other important aspect of the design was that views into the site and the building, as well as out of the building and beyond, were not obscured.

There is a fair amount of turf in the central area, which was intentionally left as open space to include a range of activities such as concerts or corporate events. The central ellipse on the site has a wide pedestrian walkway around it that can accommodate heavy truck traffic for some of those events.
Photo courtesy of Sitescapes LLC

The central space of the building is called the “Hub” and everything radiates off that atrium space including the attractions. There is also a great view of Coca Cola Headquarters Tower a few blocks away.

One of the main site elements is a Water Story Garden which wasn’t in the original master plan. Because of Coca Cola’s concern about water as an important global resource and their interest in promoting water as an important element in the world, they decided to make the water garden an important site feature. The story behind it is intentionally implicit. It is the abstract expression of the many ways that we encounter water around the globe. There are springs, waterfalls, babbling brooks, lakes and rivers, all as part of the design. The Water Story Garden is the central area between the Aquarium entry and the New World of Coca Cola entry, and is the more highly developed and designed part of the site.

At the main entry gates, they used the profile of the contour bottle as flat mosaic welcome mats. They also serve as the logo of Pemberton Place, which incorporates the Coca Cola logo comprising two leaves, the negative of which is the contour bottle shape. The logo at the main entry gate is a bas relief sculpture.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

The pavement itself is patterned with an overall water motif, taking some of the corporate motifs such as the Dynamic Ribbon and the carbon bubbles, as well as drops of water and incorporating those elements into the details of the hardscaping.

One of the main site elements is a Water Story Garden which wasn’t in the original master plan. Because of Coca Cola’s concern about water as an important global resource and their interest in promoting water as a universally needed element in the world, they decided to make the water garden an important site feature. The water features have recently been drained due to severe water shortages. Coca Cola has considered temporarily converting the features into planters, using xeriphytic plant materials, until drought restrictions have been lifted by the state of Georgia.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

Another challenge was the elevation changes in the Water Story Garden area. Part of what needed to be accomplished was a transition between the Aquarium and the Coca Cola attraction. The Aquarium is situated about ten feet higher, so they took advantage of the grade change as part of the water feature while incorporating pedestrian movement with meandering paths through the garden. Sets of terraces radiate off the atrium hub and those are separated with seat walls that step up. The terraces themselves are also more intensely developed as a garden. This facility gets a lot of use for private events—not just corporate events. Atlanta has a huge convention business and the Convention Center is also located downtown. Therefore, the site is used for other corporate events as well. The slopes above the terraces are planted with annuals and perennials as part of those garden spaces.

Sets of terraces radiate off the atrium hub and those are separated with seat walls that step up. The terraces themselves are also more intensely developed as a garden. There’s one specimen Deodar Cedar (seen in the upper right hand corner) which was planted as a sustainable Christmas tree that is about 40 feet tall. It anchors the north end of the grass ellipse.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

There is a fair amount of turf in the central area, which was intentionally left as open space to include a wide range of activities such as concerts or corporate events. The central ellipse on the site has a wide pedestrian walkway around it that can accommodate heavy truck traffic for some of those events. The ellipse is split in the middle by a red brick walkway, which represents the Dynamic Ribbon logo. That is one of the more literal icons incorporated into the design.

The pavement itself is patterned with an overall water motif, taking some of the corporate motifs such as the Dynamic Ribbon and the carbon bubbles, as well as drops of water. Those elements were incorporated into the details of the hardscaping as well.
Photo courtesy of Roy Ashley & Associates

At the three main entry gates, they created profiles of the contour bottle as a bas relief and two are flat mosaic welcome mats. The bas relief is off the main entryway at Centennial Olympic Park. It’s also the logo of Pemberton Place, which incorporates two leaves. The negative of the contour is the bottle shape.

The tree plantings include Nuttall, Oak, Cryptomeria, Aspire Holly, Trident Maple, two varieties of Red Maple, Southern Magnolia, Bosque Elm, and Green Vase Zelkova. Those are the major canopy trees.

Understory trees include Kousa Dogwood, Eastern Red Bud, Tree Form Burford Holly, Tree Form Roundleaf Holly, Crape Myrtles, and Yoshino Cherries. The annuals are a mix of shrubs and ground covers. The garden area has a more intense mix of perennials, and annuals.

Stone paving on the terraces is cherry orchard fieldstone from Tennessee. Exposed aggregate is used in two or three different areas along with colored concrete in the stencils such as the bubbles and the ribbons. The walls have a slope profile on them that was part of the abstraction of the whole watershed area. Those curved seat walls are throughout the water story garden. The water features themselves are designed to be water efficient as they all recirculate the same water.

The Water Story Garden design is the abstract expression of the many ways that we encounter water around the globe. There are springs, waterfalls, babbling brooks, lakes and rivers, all as part of the design. The Water Story Garden is the central area between the Aquarium entry and the New World of Coca Cola entry, and is the more highly developed and designed part of the site
Photo courtesy of Sitescapes LLC

At the present time, with such a severe drought, all water features are banned from operation in Atlanta, Georgia. As of publication, the water features have been cut off and drained, but that didn’t go into effect until late summer of 2007. Despite the fact that they have gotten some rain in the last few weeks, the state is still very far away from where they should be. The Coca Cola Company’s initial concern with global water was prescient. As a company, they’ve started to do more around the globe to provide clean drinking water and it has become a major corporate focus for the firm besides selling a product.

This complex and demanding site was installed by Sitescapes LLC and along with the design brilliance of Martin Haber, ASLA, Principle and Project Manager Eric Perez, ASLA—both of Roy Ashley & Associates—the team created an unbeatable blending of branding, aesthetics and global sensitivity.