Center for Civil and Human Rights Selects EDAW/Hood Design for Landscape Architecture Design

May 29,2009

The Center for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR) has selected EDAW Atlanta and partner Hood Design of Oakland for landscape architecture services. The EDAW/Hood Design team was awarded the contract following a competitive RFP process. The project team’s recent work includes the de Young Museum in San Francisco; the Macon Yards on Poplar Street in Macon, Ga.; the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.; the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky.; and the Andrew Young Tribute in Atlanta.
 

Under the guidance of CCHR’s architectural team, The Freelon Group and HOK, the EDAW/Hood Design team will work with Center leadership, exhibit designer Gallagher & Associates and project manager Cousins Properties/Gude Management Group to expand upon and finalize the facility’s landscape concepts for the $125 million, 100,000 square foot project.
 

“We are thrilled to work with the EDAW/Hood Design team as both firms are noted for conceiving awardwinning environments for cultural venues that are sustainable, expressive, and memorable,” said Philip Freelon, president of The Freelon Group and lead architect on the CCHR design project. “The team’s expertise and keen understanding of experiential storytelling, urban and architectural integration made them a very strong candidate for this project.”
 

The EDAW/Hood Design team will develop landscape and hardscape that complement the building concept, engage visitors and address functional essentials, such as orientation, movement, maintenance, and operation. Led by project director William Gilchrist, FAIA, EDAW Atlanta will serve as the primary consultant and be responsible for the contract document and construction administration phases; while Walter Hood, Jr. of Hood Design guides the team’s efforts through the schematic design and development phases. The project team will also include Irrigation Consultant Services who will contribute creative solutions for sustainable site design.
 

“We are humbled to serve as a member of the Center’s design team to help develop a landmark that pays homage to the people of Atlanta and the world who advanced and continue to champion the cause of civil and human rights,” said Gilchrist. “We look forward to applying our expertise in innovative, sustainable landscaping design principles to extend the building concept and present opportunities to further the visitor experience.”

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta will commemorate the landmark contributions of Atlantans and Georgians to the historic struggle for African-American freedom and equality as well as present the continuing story of human rights efforts around the world. The Center will be a space for ongoing dialogue, study and potential resolution of current and future freedom struggles for all people, at the local, national and international levels. For more information, please visit www.cchrpartnership.org.

ABOUT EDAW
For 70 years, EDAW AECOM has shaped exemplary environments worldwide through a collaborative approach to design and planning. The firm integrates design, master planning, environmental and ecological planning, and strategic planning and economic development to create productive, sustainable places for a variety of clients and markets. The firm provides a global network of 34 offices and 1,800 professionals to address complex challenges within a broad range of scales and contexts. Beginning October 2009, EDAW will become Design + Planning at AECOM as it continues to create exemplary environments. Learn more at www.edaw.com.

ABOUT HOOD DESIGN
Hood Design was established by Walter Hood in 1992, in Oakland, Calif. The firm is committed to issues that address the re-construction of urban landscapes within towns and cities. Hood Design’s approach is multidimensional, exploring the role of specific landscape typologies and topologies that together reinforce and remake landscapes that are specific to place and people. Hood is a professor and former chair of the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning program at the University of California, Berkeley. His area of teaching and research, American urban landscape history and design, is intertwined with office practice creating a didactic approach to projects. Hood recently received the 2009 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape Design. Hood Design’s projects include the landscape for the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco and Poplar Street, a green boulevard in the heart of downtown Macon, Ga. You may learn more about the firm at www.wjhooddesign.com.