A Meadow at the Center
Verdant Lawn is a 165-acre landscape in Albemarle County, not far from NBW’s Virginia Studio. The firm was engaged to develop a holistic master plan that integrates sustainable agriculture, the siting of residential and annex structures, as well as ecological stewardship. The plan established a vision of the land as a dynamic living system, supporting productive land use while revealing its underlying natural patterns and character. In response to challenges with current and future access across a freight rail line, NBW proposed an alternative approach route that became a generative design move: reorienting circulation around a central, bowl-shaped field and seamlessly connecting new building sites within the existing historical framework. This field, reimagined as a vibrant native meadow of warm-season grasses and wildflowers, now anchors the site both visually and ecologically. The firm has been implementing the vision for over a decade.
