HGOR

HGOR is proud to create spaces where people come together—not just during the holidays, but all year round. Places that support social connection, deliver returns on investment, and promote environmental sustainability are essential to our communities, and it’s encouraging to see spaces we design—such as the Town at Trilith's Town Center—come to life with joy, connection, and purpose. Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season, filled with warmth and shared moments in the spaces that bring us closer! Featured project: Town at Trilith Photo credits belong to their respective owners. Please contact for credit or removal requests.

HGOR is proud to share our enthusiasm for the recent groundbreaking and construction progress at Rosa Parks Square in Macon, GA. Despite the cultural and civic importance to Macon residents, Rosa Parks Square stood as an underutilized and underappreciated urban landscape. Since 2016, HGOR has been actively involved in community engagement efforts, masterplanning, and the design process, collaborating with local residents and partners to bring this vision to life. The renderings shown are representative of the community’s design vision which features a central greenspace surrounded by seating areas to offer a welcoming environment for events, social interaction, and relaxation, while a memorial wall serves as a powerful tribute to Rosa Parks’ legacy. The stage structure – positioned to face both the square and City Hall – provides a safe and meaningful venue for peaceful protests and public gatherings, empowering local voices. It is an honor to contribute to the revitalization of Rosa Parks Square, transforming it into a vibrant, community-centered space that honors its cultural significance. HGOR looks forward to seeing the final design come to life and witnessing the legacy it leaves for the citizens of Macon.

As part of a long-term initiative to transform Mercer University into a pedestrian-centered campus, HGOR was excited to redesign a portion of their historic north campus, located along a key pedestrian corridor, running through the heart of their Macon campus. Previously, this area of campus included a vehicular roadway and fragmented parking lot. The design solution focused on creating a pedestrian campus core by removing the existing roadway and parking lot and replacing them with a new campus greenspace, surrounded by improved pedestrian pathways that knit together several recent campus improvement projects. A vehicular-rated pedestrian corridor was created to maintain the functionality of the space, while still permitting access for authorized vehicles via gate entry. The design takes an environmentally mindful approach by using retaining walls to preserve existing mature trees, while also providing shaded seating areas. The plant palette for the site features 100% native species, enhancing local biodiversity and supporting the overall sustainability of the space. In combination with removal of impervious surfaces, bioretention swales are integrated along the length of the promenade to aid in stormwater management. Additionally, the design delivered cost savings for the University by enhancing visual appeal, creating essential gathering and recreational spaces, and improving pedestrian infrastructure, eliminating the immediate need for major renovations to the exteriors of several campus buildings. #sustainablecampus #resilitentcampus #campusopenspace #campustransformation #nativeplanting #biodiversity

Another big milestone at Assembly - an element that has been a focal point in the design of the public park since HGOR’s conceptual design phase! Planned adjacent to the expansive lawn, this fully programmable water feature can be customized for various events to create immersive experiences, providing an enhanced outdoor gathering and event space for the residents of Doraville and the surrounding community.

Prior to development, the Assembly Atlanta site lacked any stormwater management across its 100% impervious, post-industrial landscape. Committed to environmental stewardship, we recognized the need for change to benefit not only the development and community but also the adjacent Nancy Creek watershed. Last month, we saw our design in action during a 50-year storm event, as Hurricane Helene brought 11 inches of rain to Atlanta over 48 hours. The design for the four-acre public park prioritizes innovative stormwater solutions and durability, creating expansive greenspaces for events, recreation, and leisure while providing space for stormwater to overflow during major storm events. This proactive approach allows rainwater to gradually drain and recede back into the pond over several days, restoring the greenspace to its original state and enhancing resilience for the park itself and for the connected watershed system. #resilience #resilientdesign #ATLwatersheds #stormwatermanagement #ATLstormwater #AssemblyAtlanta #durablesitedesign

Exciting progress at Englewood South! HGOR is proud to lead the landscape architecture for this transformative 30.4-acre mixed-income redevelopment project. Working closely with Atlanta Housing, we refined and optimized the initial master plan to create efficient parcels, reduce infrastructure costs, and introduce two new park spaces. Now under construction, these parks will feature a series of functional, sustainable open spaces – including a three-acre pond that will manage stormwater for the entire site and the 2.5-acre “Town Center Park” which creatively responds to the site’s 100 feet of grade change through a terraced greenspace with plaza seating, lawns, a playground, and more programming options. We’re excited to continue watching this development take shape. Read the full article from Urbanize Atlanta below! https://lnkd.in/edamz9mB

Congratulations, Michael, on being selected to participate in the ULI Atlanta Center for Leadership Class of 2025! The Center for Leadership is a powerful resource to help guide responsible development in the Atlanta region by building connections and understanding among organizations in the industry. During the nine-month program, Michael will provide expertise and help a local government, public agency, or non-profit organization tackle a critical land use issue they’re facing. We are incredibly proud of Michael for standing out among a competitive pool of applicants as an emerging leader in the industry, and look forward to the knowledge and innovation that will follow as he continues to grow his leadership skills. Urban Land Institute

📢 Repost from Livable Buckhead 📢 "Have you seen the newest sign on PATH400? 🐦 Thanks to a generous grant from Rotary Club of Buckhead and HGOR Planners & Landscape Architects for their design expertise, you can now learn about the native birds along the trail. This new sign joins our existing native plant sign to create a rich educational experience for all PATH400 users." Check out Livable Buckhead's full post here: https://lnkd.in/d-rUe9KC

HGOR is proud to be a part of the team that is making the vision of this project come to life. Congratulations team! #CentennialYardsAtlanta,#HGOR,#Placemaking

Our team celebrated several achievements at the Georgia ASLA Awards Gala on Tuesday! Steve Sanchez received the 2024 Presidents Award and was the event’s featured speaker, delivering an inspiring talk about his journey of introducing native plant species into commercial trade. We're also proud to announce that our projects, Town at Trilith and Chattahoochee Nature Center, Inc., earned Merit Awards in the General Design category. Thank you to the jury members for providing the great feedback pictured here! Thank you, Georgia Chapter - ASLA, for putting on such a fantastic event!