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The City of Nashville, TN, received a Green Roof Award of Excellence from Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American Industry Association, for the 7.5 acre Nashville Public Square located in front of the recently renovated Metro Courthouse. The state of the art green roof system took home top honors in the intensive institutional category.

The Green Roof Award of Excellence was presented to Mayor Bill Purcell and Hawkins Partners, Inc., the submitting Nashville based landscape architectural firm, at the 5th annual international awards celebration held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Green Roof Awards of Excellence celebrates projects that are holistically designed and provide benefits in terms of the function of the building, its relation to the site and surrounding community. Six Green roof design teams, received the annual Green Roof Awards of Excellence.

"This is an honor for the City of Nashville and every party involved in this landmark renovation project," said Mayor Bill Purcell. "This project symbolizes our commitment to creating a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for our citizens and future generations."

The Nashville Public Square park project team was comprised of the following, landscape architectural, architectural, and engineering design firms:

Wallace Roberts Todd--Landscape architectural firm located in Philadelphia, PA
Hawkins Partners, Inc.--Nashville-based landscape architectural firm
Tuck Hinton Architect--Nashville-based architectural firm
Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon--Nashville - based civil engineering firm
Walker Parking--Structural engineering firm located in Marietta, GA

"We are honored to be a part of this award winning team and we could not have done this without the support and leadership of Mayor Purcell, numerous public agencies and the expertise of the entire project team." said Gary Hawkins, partner Hawkins Partners, Inc. "This project will leave a lasting and beautiful legacy for generations to come. When people look back 50 and 100 years from now, they will realize that protecting our environment and building a sustainable future was at the forefront of the 21st century."

In 2003, The City of Nashville set out to renovate the 1930s art deco style Metro Courthouse in an effort to create an open civic space and gathering point for residents and guests to downtown. The new civic square, which consists of approximately 7.5 acres, was transformed from a surface parking lot to a 5 level subterranean parking garage topped with a 2.25 acre "Green" roof deck.

Beyond being a beautiful public space, one key aspect of the parkÕs green roof design captures fresh rainwater in a 57,000 gallon below-grade tank where it is filtered and re-used to irrigate the park plantings. It turns the liability of a 2.25-acre impermeable subterranean parking garage into an asset that harvests and recycles ground water and rainwater for the plants to use, conserving hundreds of thousands of gallons of potable water each year.

"The Nashville Public Square is a landmark project for the city of Nashville from a civic and sustainable perspective." said Steven Peck, President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. "This project raises the international bar for municipal green roof projects and all parties are to be commended for their efforts on this award winning project."

The landscape architectural design also incorporates a diverse mix of native plant materials to create this unique civic space. Over 43 different species of plants were used in the design, 81% of which are native to the Southeast region and 63% are native to Middle Tennessee. The project also features several historically significant components from the original site including reused granite steps, historical war monuments and commemorative plaques. All granite walls, curbs and steps along the courthouse terrace were re-incorporated from the original site granite.

About Green Roof Awards of Excellence
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities established the Green Roof Awards of Excellence in 2003 to recognize green roof projects which exhibit extraordinary leadership in integrated design and implementation. The awards also increase general awareness of green roof infrastructure and its associated public and private benefits, while recognizing the valuable contributions of green roof design professionals. For more information visit www.greenroofs.org.

About Wallace Roberts Todd LLC
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC (WRT) is a Pennsylvania partnership with 16 principals and a staff of over 150. The firm maintains offices in Coral Gables, San Diego, San Francisco, Dallas, and New York. WRT serves clients throughout the United States and other parts of the world with a broad base of professional skills and a multi-disciplined team approach. The firm provides architecture, landscape architecture, urban design & planning services from the largest state and regional scale to individual architecture and landscape design assignments.

About Hawkins Partners, Inc.
Since its inception in 1986, Hawkins Partners, Inc. (HPI) has become a leading Landscape Architecture and Planning office. Based in the heart of NashvilleÕs downtown historic district, HPI has served clients in over thirteen states throughout the southeast and midwest. The award winning firm offers specialized expertise in sustainable design, parks and greenway design, urban design, comprehensive planning, corporate and institutional site planning, heritage planning, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, environmental graphics, interior and exterior landscapes.

About Tuck Hinton Architects
Tuck Hinton Architects is a Nashville-based full-service design firm offering professional architectural, interior design and planning services. Founded in 1984, Tuck Hinton Architects has extensive experience in many different types of design assignments including residential complexes, private residences, office buildings, churches, master plans, schools, parks, civic structures, theaters, memorials, university facilities and museums. The firm has received more than 70 regional, national and international awards and has been published in professional and design journals in the United States and abroad.

About Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon
Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, Inc. is a 400-person professional services firm with twelve offices spread across the eastern half of the U.S. A true multidiscipline design firm, the company offers engineering (civil, structural, environmental, transportation, aviation, mechanical and electrical), architecture, planning, landscape architecture and surveying.

About Walker Parking Consultants
Walker Parking Consultants (WPC) is the leading design firm specializing in planning and design of large and small parking facilities. WPCÕs clients represent the some of the nation's most respected corporations, hospitals, educational institutions, airports, cities and governmental agencies. For over 40 years WPC has set the pace in the parking industry with innovative, cost-effective parking solutions.