photo courtesy of www.yanmarevocenter.com
On November 3, Governor Nathan Deal and other officials attended the ribbon cutting for YANMAR America’s new EVO//CENTER in Acworth. The purpose of the facility is to evolve the mindsets of YANMAR’S customers, dealers, employees, and community towards thinking and acting down a path of sustainable living. The new 50,000 square foot facility features six state-of-the-art product training labs with classroom and hands-on space, three classrooms, multiple meeting rooms, office space, a 250-seat auditorium, the EVO Commons dining area, concept lab, museum and outdoor product demonstration areas. The center also includes a “Working” Agricultural Training Field of approximately two acres, which will allow YANMAR to grow local, seasonal crops which can be consumed by employees and visitors. The field will also be utilized for educational purposes in the form of student field trips. Visitors will learn where food comes from and how it’s harvested via hands-on experiential learning.
Breedlove Land Planning performed all site design on the project including civil engineering and landscape architecture. BLP preserved of a majority of the 52-acre site including preservation of 32 acres of existing tree save (wooded) areas. Additionally, over 225 new 4” caliper trees were planted on site within developed areas. The project also includes over 250,000 SF of custom native, low-maintenance “meadow” mix. The meadow mix only requires mowing twice a year and does not require irrigation – a huge savings in water usage as compared to traditional turf grass.
The overall site layout and design blends the Evo//Center with its rural Cherokee County surroundings. Yet special accent features, including the reflecting pond and the outdoor dining commons, draw inspiration from traditional Japanese garden elements, a nod to YANMAR’s native country.
Governor Deal has attended recent ribbon cuttings for three BLP projects. In addition to YANMAR EVO//CENTER, he has attended the ribbon cutting ceremonies for UGA Business Learning Center Phase II and the GBI Morgue Expansion.
To see photos from the completed project click here.
Breedlove Land Planning News 