This new 75-acre development includes a mix of municipal, office, and commercial spaces around a park with an amphitheater along a portion of Kelly Mill Branch. This will modify more than 4,000 feet of stream with approximately 20 acres of floodplain and floodway. Foresite Group is the lead engineer for the proposed development which includes the design of the park (with boardwalks, trails, and observation decks) as an educational tool to highlight the value of constructed wetlands and stream restoration, the design modification along the floodplain/floodway that will not impact upstream properties while reducing the potential of infrequent flooding immediately downstream, and the construction of wetlands to treat stormwater for the proposed development. This project also includes streetscape design.

Design challenges included significant topography changes, designing around wetlands, relocating streams, coordinating hydrology and floodplain issues, incorporating a new state road entrance, state road widening, and culvert adjustments.

Having both civil engineers and landscape architects on the Foresite Group Greenspace team was critical in properly managing this project’s many nuances and challenges and developing a complete and thorough design. We continually find that projects run more smoothly, have less design gaps, and result in a better developed project when civil engineers and landscape architects work closely within the same team.