Georgia Tech

Search

Table of Contents

Tours

  1. Gardens and Greens Tour

    A guide to Georgia Tech's green spaces and garden facts.

    Stops

    1. Tech Tower Lawn

      363 - Tech Tower Lawn

      This area served as a parade ground for the military in the early 1900s. There was once a sundial in the center of the space.

    2. Harrison Square

      352 - Harrison Square
      675 Cherry Street NW, Atlanta, GA  30332

      Harrison Square was named after Edwin Davies Harrison, the sixth president of Georgia Tech (1957-1969). It is home of the Corliss Pump from the Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation, a company formed on April 20, 1916. The pump was used in the Coon Building on campus.

      Per the historical marker at Harrison Square, Georgia Tech was established in 1885 to provide technical education in support of the state’s growing industrial economy. Georgia Tech — like many educational, business, and industrial sites in Atlanta — was built where bloody Civil War battles had occurred just two decades earlier. Educational institutions played a key role in helping the state to rebuild and flourish after the war.

    3. Paul Mayer Memorial Garden

      354 - Paul Mayer Memorial Garden
      684 Cherry Street NW, Atlanta, GA  30332

      This garden is named after Paul G. Mayer, who started as a civil engineering professor in 1959, became a Regents Professor in 1974, and retired from Georgia Tech in 1985. The garden contains a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs typically found in Japanese gardens.

    4. Skiles Courtyard

    5. Skiles Triangle Lawn

      This area contains a variety of oaks providing shade.  The heavy shade allows for fescue turf, which remains green during the winter, contrasting with the bermuda grass on Tech Green, which is dormant during the winter.

    6. Tech Green

      358 - Tech Green
      725 Atlantic Drive

      The design for Tech Green is based on the concept of a theater with a mezzanine, loge orchestra and stage. Under the green is a 1.4-million-gallon cistern harvesting storm and condensate water for flushing Clough Commons toilets, irrigation and the Kessler Campanile fountain.

    7. Kessler Campanile

      350 - Kessler Campanile
      Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA  30332

      The Kessler Campanile, an iconic campus landmark, is an 80-foot obelisk surrounded by a fountain, plaza, and amphitheater. The Campanile was originally constructed for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta by artist Richard Hill, a Georgia sculptor and photographer.

    8. IC Lawn/Community Garden

      A favorite for tailgating, this area also includes a community garden maintained by Students Organizing for Sustainability(SOS). SOS participants gather to tend the garden about once a week. It’s home to more than a dozen crops – all grown without chemical fertilizers – giving gardeners an array of healthy take-home options.

    9. Couch Park

      This city-owned park is maintained and operated by Georgia Tech.  Formerly known as the “Burger Bowl,” it is used for rugby, baseball, soccer, frisbee, and summer camps.

    10. Urban Forest Pilot Project

      Just 10 years ago, this hill was a lawn requiring irrigation and regular mowing.As a pilot project, Georgia Tech planted 795 saplings to see how long it would take to achieve a dense forest.

    11. Class of 1970 Rooftop Garden

      The Clough Commons rooftop garden includes 39 drought tolerant native species. Irrigation for the garden is provided from the 1.4 million gallon cistern underneath Tech Green. 

    12. Architecture (East) Courtyard

      Renovated in 2013 based on the original design with guidance from Doug Allen, Professor Emeritus.

    13. Noonan Courtyard

      Verina Baxter's Big Red Tumpkin was placed in the courtyard as part of the 2013 Engineered Art Exhibit. The surrounding landscape consists of a diverse native plant palette. There are two cisterns under this space providing 280,000 gallons of storm water storage for irrigation use.

    14. Rain Garden at Klaus

      This unique landscape includes a collection of perennials, capable of surviving wet and dry conditions while providing a seasonal interest. This fall image shows River Oats Chasmanthium latifolium. In the spring Ragwort, Senecio aureus blankets the area.

    15. Fred L. "Bud" Suddath Courtyard

      Bud Suddath was a faculty member at Georgia Tech from 1985 to 1992 and served as vice president for Information technology. This space contains Tech’s only windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei).

    16. EcoCommons

      The EcoCommons design includes a network of open space, rain gardens, cisterns, and infiltration areas that will provide opportunities for capturing stormwater and condensate for irrigation and reuse in future buildings. A unique mix of plant materials has been developed to include hydric, mesic, and xeric plant communities.

    17. Biotech Quad Courtyard

      The Biotech Quad is a home to the GT BBUGS perennial garden.

    18. Cisco Amphitheater

      The tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) canopy provides a unique shaded environment for students to gather.

    19. Class of 1957 EcoCommons Glade Overlook

      From approximately 55 feet above the glade, the overlook provides a dramatic view through the trees to the soon-to-be completed Eco-Commons pond. The large white oak, Quercus alba, near the overlook has a 42.5-inch-caliper trunk.

    20. Ecker Family Courtyard

      This courtyard overlooks 10 tennis courts as part of the Ken Byers Tennis Complex and is adjacent to McCamish Pavilion.

    21. Johnny Gresham Plaza Bridge

      Also known as Fifth Street Bridge, this bridge features a trellis covered with Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens),providing shade as students traverse theI-75/85 corridor. This unique green space is used for food festivals, outdoor movies,and the occasional tailgating party.

    22. Acuity Brands Plaza

      As a primary Midtown entrance to Tech, this plaza features a bosque of ‘Princeton’ American elms (Ulmus americana ‘Princeton’), known to be resistant to Dutch elm disease in North America.