This project was completed for the Urban Land Institute's Hines Competition, a two week design challenge which brings together multi-disciplinary teams from Real Estate, Architecture, and Urban Planning. Becca served as the team's planner, and assisted in the development of a sustainability plan, community development goals, and traffic planning, as well as assisting in the production of drawings for the final deliverable. The team included Agnieszka Janusz (Architecture), Trevor Owens, Jessica Michung Yoon andLeo Yu (Real Estate Development).

Spring Loop provides a strategic mix of uses in a new development characterized by forward looking architecture and thoughtful treatment of the public realm create a vibrant place at the confluence of urban forces. Spring Loop connects existing subway, automobile routes and planned streetcar systems, completing surrounding pedestrian and cycling networks.Its optimal location promotes such multi-modal transit and creates a unique opportunity for car-free living at the center of Atlanta’s sprawling metropolitan area, where students, young professionals, families, and older adults can live, work, and thrive - forging a Lifelong Community.

The urban landscape of Spring Loop prioritizes pedestrian interaction between the built space and nature. A wooded berm lined with dogwoods and oaks frames Spring Loop to the west, buffering the Midtown development from I-85. Margaret Mitchell Plaza uncoils into central gardens extending seamlessly into and upon an architecturally inspired commercial and community space known as The Knot where visitors enjoy grassy terraces overlooking the landscaped grounds and Atlanta’s iconic skyline beyond.

The plantings and permeable paving around the plaza provide sustainable rainwater management techniques, allowing Midtown Alliance to do their part in current efforts to reduce sewage overflow into the Chattahoochee. The water filters through an active bioswale into a series of underground cisterns, where it is stored for potential reuse. In light of Atlanta’s skyrocketing water prices, which have risen 233% since 2001, the reuse of rainwater for landscaping and cooling systems could greatly mitigate the project’s operating expenses. The street level bustles with smartly curated retail for neighborhood residents, with a welcoming pathway sculpted by the building podiums to drawin activity from the established thoroughfare of Peachtree Street.The geometry of Block C suggest further cohesion, extending the identity of Spring Loop south to the redeveloped MARTA site where grab-and-go retail, office, and multifamily apartments rise above the strengthened station below.