It’s another step along the way for the emerging community of Serenbe. Nestled inside Chattahoochee Hill Country in Southwest Fulton County, the hamlet recently announced design plans for its 91,000 square-foot town center and the 24,154 square-foot Serenbe Center for Arts & Culture.

Situated on 4.3 acres at the apex of an omega-shaped curve on Selborne Lane, both the town center and arts center represent the unfolding heart of a dream that continues to manifest itself inside the 224 acres that is Serenbe.

Serenbe Center for Arts & Culture will be an architecturally modern building featuring an art studio, media center, dance and movement room and an artists’ residence, said Serenbe co-founder Steve Nygren. Other components of the arts center include a destination restaurant, retail shops and office space.

Nygren said Wednesday the projected groundbreaking for the center is expected in 2006. Once completed, the arts center will provide a unique venue for the community.

“We are continuing our efforts to develop a spot that creative folks can respond to, one that incorporates the culinary, visual and performing arts,” he said.

Future phases of the town center master plan, totaling 67,000 square feet, include an art school with studios and a gallery and a clay studio and kiln. Town center plans also include a wellness center, office space and artists’ lofts. The Blue-Eyed Daisy bakery opened recently on Selborne Lane.

Architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elams will collaborate with landscape architect Reed/Hilderbrand on the arts center and town center projects.

“The presence of art and artists and people related to arts are essential to the cultural richness of a community. Our firm found it very heartening that arts are such an important aspect of Serenbe,” said Merrill Elam, principal of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects.

Hilderbrand’s design establishes a 130-foot by 134-foot lawn that gently slopes toward Selborne Lane. The square shape of the lawn, a pure geometrical form, will contrast with the winding roads of the community. And, unlike the tree-filled grounds of the community, the town square will be an open area without a lot of trees, resembling a natural clearing in the woods, according to the project’s conceptual plan. The town square is envisioned as a place of great activity complete with farmers’ and artists’ markets, performances and special events. Serenbe Farms, which includes a subscription community supported agriculture (CSA), will hold its weekly farmers markets in the Town Center, providing fresh organics to Serenbe and Chattahoochee Hill Country residents.

Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam’s contemporary design style can be seen in several other buildings such as the Clark Atlanta University Art Gallery, the Pittsburgh Children's Museum and the United States Courthouse in Austin, Texas. Honors and awards earned over the past 20 years include four National American Institute of Architects/Association of Licensed Architects Library Building Awards, six National AIA Honor Awards and 10 Georgia AIA Design Awards of Excellence.

Reed/Hilderbrand is the recipient of 13 American Society of Landscape Architects awards, most notably for the Children's Therapeutic Garden in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Hither Lane in Easthampton, New York and Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have two such acclaimed firms working on the Serenbe Center for Arts & Culture,” said Nygren. “They have created a town center that will not only contribute to Serenbe’s diverse architecture, but will also enhance the quality of life here.”

The Serenbe community being built 32 miles southwest of Atlanta with nearly two dozen homes and other buildings completed or under construction. Combining select principles of new urbanism and conservation communities, Serenbe intends to set the standard for the next generation of responsible development. The 224-acre community is the first hamlet planned within the 40,000-acre Chattahoochee Hill Country. More than 70 percent of Serenbe will be preserved as green space and will provide residents with access to a network of parks and trails for hiking, horseback riding and other outdoor recreation.

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