CLH provided civil engineering and landscape architecture design services for a new regional library on a challenging 9.24 acre wooded site in north Raleigh. The site consisted of steep topography and is within the City of Raleigh’s Urban Watershed Protection Overlay District. This district requires 40% of the site’s vegetation to either be preserved or replanted. The new library facility and the entry plaza is positioned along the ridge of the site and 124 parking spaces accommodate the parking needs for this library. To meet the City of Raleigh’s stormwater requirements, two sodded bio-retention areas were proposed along the west side of the property, which is the low point of the site. Because of the excessive terrain, a large retaining wall was designed adjacent to the parking areas to allow for reasonable slope along the parking lots for ease of access to the building. Services included concept plan, site layout, clearing and grading, utilities, stormwater best management practices (bio-retention areas), planting design and construction observation.
Susan Holt Photography