In addition to being ranked #476 in Engineering New Record’s (ENR) Top 500 Design Firms list, the firm was listed #20 in the Mixed-Use category of ENR’s Sourcebook Market Guide.  The Top 500 Design Firms Sourcebook ranks U.S.-based firms in almost 60 separate market and submarket sectors.  These lists allow design firms to demonstrate activity in particular areas of expertise.

Smithsonian Magazine – The Smithsonian Magazine recently featured the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library as the nation’s most innovative public library. While many cities have reduced library budgets as digital technology has become more dominant, Memphis has chosen instead to invest in their libraries and attendance in library programs has quadrupled in the last six years. Successful libraries across the country are embracing libraries as community centers. LRK designed Cloud901, prominently featured in the article, and provided architectural and interior design services for the overall Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

Public Square – The LRK-designed Meadowbrook Park was recently featured in CNU’s journal, Public Square for it’s practical approach to landscape urbanism.

“Meadowbrook Park doesn’t look a lot like typical New Urbanism, yet it provides usable parkland and diversity of living spaces to Prairie Village, Kansas,” the article states. “The surrounding neighborhoods of single-family houses, built in the 1940s and 1950s, are better for it because they previously lacked access to parks. Residents were given the option of supporting the redevelopment of a 135-acre golf course, on the condition that most of it become public open space. With that trade-off, the City of 22,000 more than doubled its usable park space.”

Urban Land - While working together at Meadowbrook Park, LRK and VanTrust made a conscious effort to preserve more than 80 acres for public use. The open space includes destination playgrounds, an early childhood development center, paved trails, event space for up to 200 people, fishing ponds, pickleball courts, and more.

“Parks have been reintroduced into many people’s day-to-day recreation, driven by the pandemic,” said Justin Duff, Senior Director of Development at VanTrust Real Estate. “One of the strongest emerging trends this year is the focus on health and health equity. I’m hopeful that the movement toward health as well as mental and physical well-being will continue beyond the pandemic and will bring greater focus on meeting the social needs of communities.”

Caledon Citizen - Last month, the Caledon Citizen featured an article about Caledon Station, a planned transit hub located in Caledon, Ontario Canada. Caledon Station is set to be the first transit-oriented community in the area, located near the planned Caledon GO station. This project will be a master plan with a mix of uses, including green spaces, neighborhoods with a variety of housing, and a hub with shops, restaurants, and workplaces. Part of the plan is for Caledon to offer diverse residential settings, from single-family detached homes to townhomes designed for empty nesters, all connected by walkable streets and surrounded by green spaces. The project places an emphasis on walking, biking, and hiking, as well as using public transportation, diminishing car reliance and contributing to sustainability. LRK provided master planning and urban design services for Caledon Station in association with NAK Design Strategies.