Georgia Tech EcoCommons

A multifunctional design for campus common spaces weaves together innovative approaches that advance Georgia Tech's leadership in sustainability design.

Georgia Tech’s 2006 Campus Landscape Master Plan called for the creation of a permanent ribbon of interconnected, ecologically functioning open space in the heart of the campus. At the core of this ribbon, an 8-acre living laboratory and performance landscape called the EcoCommons was envisioned to be a campus stormwater sponge, biodiversity hotspot, carbon sink, and site for respite and academic research. As a key member of the design team led by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and Barge Design Solutions, Biohabitats helped bring this inspiring vision to life.

Biohabitats evaluated historical information and framed the site’s ecological potential. Two small valleys once characterized the site, but they were filled in when parking became the predominant land use. Working with the design team, Biohabitats helped develop a concept that would mimic the site’s historic landforms and native piedmont plant communities and provide a mosaic of native habitats and refuge within an urban ecological context. After coordinating an analysis to determine the viability of establishing targeted piedmont plant communities in the existing soil, Biohabitats developed a soil conditioning and amendment plan to loosen soil compaction and increase organic soil carbon. Biohabitats also developed plant composition schedules for each habitat type with species best suited to succeed.

To facilitate the creation of a living laboratory, Biohabitats developed an approach and methodology to evaluate the EcoCommons’ ecological performance. This included a plan for installing continuous data sensors and field sampling. The new backbone of the Georgia Tech campus, the EcoCommons provides ecological services and outdoor learning opportunities for future generations of students and community members.

TAGS

• Analysis+Planning
• Assessment+Monitoring
• Ecological Restoration