mckee carson portfolio

7/28/2019 McKee Carson Portfolio

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301 East High StreetCharlottesville, Virginia 22902

434.979.7522www.mckeecarson.com

McKEECARSON


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301 E High St. Charlottesville, VA 22903 t.434.979.7522 .434.977.1194 www.mckeecarson.com

Landsca pe A rchitects | Civil Engineers | Land Planners

C H A R L O T T E S V I L L E V I R G I N I A


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Table o Contents

Firm Philosophy

Design Services

Experience & Projects Completed

Key Personnel

Reerences

Bundoran Farm - Albemarle County, Virginia

Brickhouse Farm - Northampton County, Virginia

Mill Mountain Farm - Charlottesville, Virginia

Private Residence - White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Private Residence - Baltimore County, Maryland

The Fork Farm & Stables - Stanly County, North Carolina

Spring Creek - Louisa County, Virginia

Belvedere Neighborhood Parks - Louisa County, Virginia

Union First Mar et Ban - C ar ottesvi e, VirginiaSmith Aquatic & Fitness Center - Charlottesville, Virginia

Fontaine Research Park - Charlottesville, Virginia

LTACH, University o Virginia - Charlottesville, Virginia

Robert B. McKee, PE, LA

Christopher E. Sonne, PE, LEED AP

C ristop er Mant e

Michael Downey

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Evergreen Heritage Center Green Site Plan

Firm Philosophy

McKee Carson is an innovative, award winning landscape architecture, civil engineering, and land planning frm

ounded in 1978 by Robert B. McKee, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. In its 33rd year, McKee Carsons work

encompasses a wide range o project types, rom large scale recreation and conservation based land-planning to

fne-scale landscape architectural design and civil engineering services.

We believe that our frms philosophy is ideally suited or the challenges raised by trying to couple environmenta

and economic sustainability and the unique opportunities it will present. As designers o our environment,

we believe in being socially and environmentally responsible. Coupled with our dedication to low impact

development and sustainability, we encourage conscientious stewardship o the public realm through our site

design and planning endeavors. It is our belie that there is a tried and true relationship between good planning

design, engineering and the creation o economic and social value.

It is through these belies and philosophy that the design principles o our frm are guided. Over many years o

design and through the trials o numerous projects o varied scope and complexity, we have gained an improvedand refned understanding that sustainable design and low impact development strategies are not only smart

and conscientious, but they also tend to be economically advantageous. For example, we have ound that by

working with land eatures instead o against them, less earthwork and storm drain pipes tend to be required,

creating a built environment that is adaptive to the natural, directly reducing overall construction costs.

The cornerstone o our design philosophy lies in an integrated and collaborative approach wherein proessionals

o varied disciplines and the client are encouraged to reely interact and participate in the design process.

At McKee Carson, we recognize that our work is an integral component o a larger, overall planning and

organizational eort. In serving our clients, we look beyond the limits o engineering and landscape architecture

to gain a clear understanding o the myriad issues involved and ormulate an approach to each commission

based on its unique nature and set o circumstances.


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Design Services - Landscape Architecture

McKee Carsons landscape architecture services combine the environment, art, design and science providing

an interace between people and natural systems where we live, work and play. We provide landscape

architecture services or a ull range o public and private sector residential, commercial, institutional,

recreational and mixed-use development projects. We are able to produce eective project results by

establishing with the client clear program objectives, maintaining high standards o design, maximizing

opportunities and responding creatively to environmental, economic and regulatory constraints.

Our Landscape Architecture services include:

- Master Planning

- Urban Park and Open Space Systems

- Residential Site and Planting Plans

- Public and Private Gardens

- Green Inrastructure- Stormwater Management (LID)

- Sustainable Development (LEED)

- Site Planning and Engineering

- Roadways and Trails

- Development Criteria and Design Guidelines

- Construction Documents and Oversight


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Design Services - Land Planning & Development

McKee Carson provides project planning, design, engineering, and construction oversight services or a ull

range o residential, commercial, institutional, recreational and mixed-use development projects. We are able

to produce eective project results by establishing with the client clear program objectives, maintaining high

standards o design, maximizing opportunities and responding creatively to environmental, economic and

regulatory constraints.

Our Land Planning & Development services include:

- Site Analysis, Programming, and Planning

- Landscape Architecture

- Entitlements, Rezoning and Special Use Permitting

- Site Planning

- Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies

- Development Criteria and Design Guidelines- Master Planning or Sustainable Development

- Cost Analysis and Development Feasibility Studies

- Construction Documents

- Project Oversight and Management


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Design Services - Environmental Planning & Design

McKee Carson oers a wide range o environmental planning and design services to counties, cities, towns and

public/private organizations. These encompass such activities as defning conservation/preservation districts,

establishing innovative land use controls and evaluating transportation corridors or utility system alignments.

Crucial to these endeavors is McKee Carsons understanding o the relationship between social, economic,

cultural, political and environmental actors.

Our Environmental Planning & Design services include:

- Resource-based Land Use Planning

- Preservation, Conservation and Critical Area Planning

- Open Space and Recreation Planning

- Visual Analysis and Landscape Assessment

- Wetlands Delineation and Preservation

- Farm, Estate and Rural Areas Planning and Design


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Design Services - Community & Urban Design

McKee Carson engages in project design services to assist in maintaining and improving the vitality o urban

and rural communities, including small towns, neighborhoods, downtowns and special districts and regions.

Citizen participation, public/private cooperation and site-specifc design are viewed by McKee Carson as

essential ingredients or successul community planning and design eorts.

Our Community & Urban Design services include:

- Urban Parks and Open Space Systems

- Recreational Facilities Design

- Streetscape and Faade Improvements

- Development and Master Planning

- Guidelines and Design Review

- Municipal Engineering and Capital Improvements Programs


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Design Services - Civil Engineering

McKee Carson provides civil engineering services or a ull range o public and private sector residential,

commercial, institutional, recreational and multi-use development projects. We also provide a ull range o

services or roadway, inrastructure and utility projects. We are able to produce eective project results by

establishing with the client clear program objectives, maintaining high standards o design while providing value

engineering, maximizing opportunities and responding creatively to environmental, economic and regulatory

constraints.

Our Civil Engineering services include:

- Site Planning and Engineering

- Roads

- Water and Sanitary Sewer Systems

- Low Impact Development (LID) Stormwater Management

- Rainwater Harvesting Systems- Grading Plans and Erosion Sediment Control Measures

- Sustainable Development (LEED)

- Development Criteria and Design Guidelines

- Development Feasibility Studies

- Cost Analysis and Value Engineering

- Construction Documents

- Project Oversight


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Experience & Projects Completed

McKee Carson has designed and engineered a variety o recreational acilities and neighborhood and

community open space projects with the highest standard or environmental perormance and client

satisaction and usability. Recently completed projects include the LEED Platinum Certifed Smith Aquatic &

Fitness Center, a 25,000 square oot municipal recreational center or the City o Charlottesville. Completed

in 2010, this acility eatures 100 percent stormwater collection using a series o bioswales and catchment

basins. It was ormally recognized by Athletic Business Magazine as one o its 2011 Facilities o Merit.

In September 2011 we completed the design and engineering o the Charlottesville Fontaine Avenue Fire

Station, which will also seek LEED certifcation.

Additional projects with which McKee Carson was involved include Bundoran Farm in Albemarle County,

Virginia; Brickhouse Farm in Northampton County, Virginia; the Jackson River Preservation Development in

Allegheny County, Virginia; the Belvedere Neighborhood and Parks in Albemarle County, Virginia; Spring Creek in

Louisa County, Virginia; Tandem Friends School in Albemarle County, Virginia; The Fork Farm & Stables in StanlyCounty, North Carolina; the Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Virginia; the University o Virginias

Fontaine Research Park and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) in Charlottesville, Virginia.


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Bundoran Farm

Client: Qroe Preservation Development - Albemarle County, Virginia

Acreage: 2,30

Completed: Ongoing

This 2,300-acre armstead located twenty minutes rom the city o Charlottesville possesses several notablequalities typical o central Virginia and the Piedmont: rolling pastures, open streams, mature oak/hickory/maple

orests, productive apple orchards, miles o horse and hiking trails, and stunning views o the surrounding Blue

Ridge Mountains.

It was McKee Carsons charge to implement the Qroe Farms Land Use Philosophy at all levels o design

development and construction. From conceptual Master Planning to detailed construction documentation and

engineering o systems such as alternative stormwater management and conscientious road designs, McKee

Carson worked with Qroe Farm Development to create a community that will enjoy, protect and enhance the

arm and its adjacent natural amenities.

Driving through the valley, one would never suspect the number o people who will call it home. House sites

have been careully chosen to take advantage o views without being visible themselves. Lying lightly on

the land, the roads and driveways will be as unobtrusive as possible and take advantage o bioswales andbioretention areas to attenuate stormwater ows. Housing types will range rom secluded and private to villages

o 5-10 houses, all o which will leave at least 80 percent o the arm undisturbed.


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Brickhouse Farm

Located along the barrier islands between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, Brickhouse Neck is notonly a beautiul place but also a unique ecosystem. The property orms a narrow sliver o arm feld and salt

marsh interspersed with tidal creeks, mud ats, shallow bays and ponds. Brickhouse Neck and its amily o

barrier islands is a ragile landscape that comprises the longest stretch o coastal wilderness remaining on the

Atlantic Coast o the United States.

Beginning in 1969, The Nature Conservancy bought 14 o the islands as the core o the Virginia Coast Reserve

in an eort to ward o huge development proposals that would have included marinas, bridges and condos.

McKee Carsons work at Brickhouse Farm is intended to help the Nature Conservancy broaden its protection

o this vital ecosystem. Working with our client, we are helping to assure that the land is placed under

conservation easement and preserved long into the uture.

The project was eatured in the April/May 2006 edition o The Virginia Sportsman, Saving a Spectacular

Wilderness: McKee Carson Conserves a Seaside Farm on Virginias Eastern Shore.

Client: Private - Northampton County, Virginia

Acreage: 1,10

Comp ete : 200


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Mill Mountain Farm

Mill Mountain is located in the mountain region o Southern Albemarle County. The owners wanted to create aunique home and garden that accommodates a growing amily while acknowledging the landscape typology.

On a physiographic scale the landorm at Mill Mountain can be interpreted as one gesture - that o a bowl or

basin with water pouring rom its sides. Within this bowl a series o ridges and ravines punctuate the valley oor.

These ridges and ravines create tension and accord while shaping the valley oor, mimicking a braided conduit

through which streams meander. This merging and balancing o geomorphic landorm, generated by erosion

and weathering orces, is essential to understanding the Mill Mountain landscape and becomes the inspiration

or the design o built orm at the site.

The ecological communities at Mill Mountain (orest, riparian edge, and meadow) can be seen as separate but

the unction o each is inherently connected to the others and to the larger ecosystem in which they are situated

The richness o Mill Mountains ecology provides a distinct, multi-layered vernacular that inuences design

decisions. Designing in an ecologically-conscientious manner that recognizes the landscape and the architecture

as a cohesive whole is our charge and is essential to the success o Mill Mountain as a place specifc.

Client: Private - Albemarle County, Virginia

creage: 70

Completed: 2008


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Private Residence; White Sulphur Springs, WV

This West Virginia residence was designed in concert with a prominent Charlottesville-based architect withwhom McKee Carson requently works. Placemaking was particularly challenging as the home was situated on a

very steep ridge with a mountaintop building ordinance that does not allow or grading 10 beyond the building

envelope. The multilayered design involved optimizing views, passive solar orientation, and natural ventilation

while minimizing earthwork and underground drainage. As with all o our projects, a low-impact approach

was employed as we worked with the architects to lay the ootprint o the house as lightly upon the slope as

possible. Particularly noteworthy was the use o natural overland stormwater attenuation strategies (i.e. planted

bioswales and infltration channels) to direct the water away rom the house, parking court, and outdoor rooms/

terraces.

Along with the design o the retaining walls and terraces, McKee Carson was also intimately involved with the

planting on site. Native plants were located in critical areas. For example, hydric Piedmont species groundcover

and shrubs were planted in the swales/infltration channels and on highly erodible slopes while the more mesic

and xeric-oriented owering trees and larger canopy trees were seamlessly integrated with the existing matureorest throughout the rest o the site.

Client: Private - White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

creage: