Shades of Green, an Atlanta-based permaculture firm, recently announced its collaboration with Globe Studios to transform a block in Avondale Estate’s Rail Arts District into a community eco-arts greenspace, according to a press release.
The space will serve as an outdoor community hub, where people can gather for movie nights and art shows, grab a beer from one of the nearby breweries, and enjoy it around the fire-pit with friends, or do yoga on the green.
Also the site of the firm’s headquarters, the space will leverage Shades of Green permaculture design to create a regenerative landscape, from growing fruit and collecting rain water to supporting pollinator habitats like meadows. The regenerative landscape designed by Shades of Green taps into the land’s natural resources and provides for the community. Rather than condos or new developments, the eco-arts greenspace will grow fruit trees, herb and vegetable gardens plus blueberries, strawberries and blackberries for the community. Cisterns will collect rain from the huge adjacent buildings and overflow into rain gardens that will support the landscape including a meadow providing valuable food for threatened pollinators.
“Commercial land owners in rapidly developing areas have a responsibility to the community and to the planet, and it goes further than the bottom line or any potential profit,” said Brandy Hall, Founder and Managing Director, Shades of Green. “These spaces are vital to the long-term health of our communities and ecosystems, and we feel a responsibility to make a positive impact. That’s why we’re honored to work alongside Globe Studios to help facilitate that in some way… and we can’t wait to welcome the community in and enjoy the space together!”
With the design phase complete, install has begun as a grassroots community effort, in the same vein as the space itself, and will continue to evolve over the next couple of years. As a community space, it is important to engage citizen gardeners and use the greenspace as a teaching tool, so Shades of Green and Globe Studios will host volunteer efforts to bring the space to life.
About the Author
