Lynchburg, Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

When the McIntire Botanical Garden Foundation wanted a vision for the conversion of the McIntire property into an inclusive public park and botanical garden to serve the city and region, they asked Kennon Williams Landscape Studio to create a Master Plan. The property is located in the center of the city, and currently holds a nearly defunct golf course and significant space left over. The design envisions the park as a centerpiece in downtown Charlottesville and a multi-use public space: a “Central Park” for the city that would include a diversity of spaces with opportunities for recreation and outdoor learning.

At the heart of the plan is the McIntire Botanical Garden, which would interpret and display native and naturalized plants, plant communities and sustainable site practices. The garden is intended to be a regional draw for recreation, environmental education, and the showcase o regionally significant plants and approaches to landscape practices.

Walton County, Florida

The Landscape Plan for WaterColor weaves a network of public spaces and trails into a new 500-acre urban development adjacent to Seaside on the Florida panhandle. The master plan preserves the site’s natural beauty while making it accessible to the community spaces.

Local and regional cultural influences informed the design of all public spaces. At Cerulean Park, WaterColor’s central public space, a 340-foot long, four foot wide canal celebrates the importance of water in this region, passing remnants of the original forest preserved throughout the green. The canal recalls irrigation ditches and channels of the Florida agricultural landscape and tannic-black water creeks that flow into the nearby lake. At the canal’s end, an oval basin recalls the limestone sinkholes found throughout the region.

While at NBW, Kennon Williams was the Senior Designer and Project Manager on the project and participated in the master plan design, developed many of the site designs and sustainable site strategies, and wrote the landscape chapters of the pattern book. The attention to natural systems and design innovation led to an eight-year client relationship, including planning and design for all public spaces, streets, stormwater systems, and development codes.

Awards

2002 ASLA National Merit Award, Master Plan

2002 ASLA Florida Honor Award, Master Plan

2002 ASLA Florida Honor Award, Cerulean Park

2002 INFORM Awards Va AIA Honor Award, Cerulean Park

2003 Southeast Building Conference Aurora Award, Idea House

2003 Southeast Building Conference Aurora Award, Arvida's WaterColor

2006 ASLA Florida Honor Award, Camp WaterColor