Pond & Company (POND) was the recipient of an honor award from the Georgia Engineering Alliance for their North Avenue: Re-Opening Georgia Tech’s Historic Gateway project during Georgia’s “Engineers Week” in February 2014.
As a primary pedestrian corridor through the heart of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s urban campus, North Avenue is a critical thoroughfare not only for students traversing campus and excited Yellow Jackets fans celebrating on game day, but also for commuters driving to businesses, industry, and residences in the Midtown Atlanta area. Pond & Company worked with Georgia Tech to revitalize North Avenue by improving pedestrian safety on the busy corridor and developing an aesthetically pleasing gateway for the campus.
Since the university was founded in 1885, the City of Atlanta has grown around Georgia Tech’s campus, contributing to a steady increase in traffic on North Avenue and the surrounding streets. In the 1970s, the campus constructed fences and walls around the perimeter to promote a sense of security. In 2002, Georgia Tech developed a new campus master plan, beginning an initiative to reconnect the thriving campus and the Midtown Atlanta neighborhood.
Pond developed the master plan for the North Avenue corridor which unified the visual identity at this gateway into the Georgia Tech Campus. Pond also studied traffic patterns & vehicle density to determine pedestrian safety issues, which led to several pedestrian improvements, including the first High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK, a type of pedestrian hybrid beacon) in the City of Atlanta.