3. Fromme Design and HDLA worked closely with staff and board during an iterative planning process exploring a future grounded in the Garden’s strategic framework. Multiple facilitated workshops engaged staff and board in exploring, testing, and prioritizing ideas and the interrelationships among them.  

The master plan identified four major “campuses” within the property each focused on an aspect of the Garden’s mission and purpose. The Event Campus creates new indoor and outdoor rental venues to draw the community while generating revenue. Regionally native plants immerse visitors into four Alabama Eco Gardens: Woodland, Meadow, Rock Outcrop, and Wetland. The South Gardens create a destination and denouement within a richly planted space showcasing historic Doric columns from Huntsville’s (now demolished) courthouse. A new pavilion at the contains visitor amenities, flexible use central room, and storage.

Education and adventure appeal to school groups, families, caregivers, and youngsters in the Learning Campus. Every experience, feature, and element supports and expresses the organization’s desire to encourage nature-based experiential education. The Learning Building is a central basecamp providing flexible classroom space, amenities, offices, and storage. The design team developed an initial architectural program and spatial use diagram.

Surprise, delight, participatory features, and interpretation await daring explorers to the Discovery Garden, a refresh and expansion of the existing Family Garden. The intent was to have every experience, feature, and element, support and express the organization’s desire to encourage nature-based learning through surprise and delight. The design team developed initial detailed ideas for participatory visitor engagement, key interpretive stories, planting intents, and visitor amenities to bring the Garden’s mission and curriculum to life.

3. Fromme Design had developed the 2012 core garden master plan with the previous administration. The resulting continuity and familiarity provided a strong foundation for the current explorations.