SouthwoodTallahassee, FL
Beauty drawn from the distinctive personality of the existing landscape and the manner in which urban development is placed in that landscape: For the new community of Southwood, just outside Tallahassee, Sasaki has combined the principles of traditional American town-building with respect for the natural environment. Moreover, proximity to the Florida State University School of Education lab school inspired developer Arvida St. Joe to envision Southwood as a life-long learning community, with all homes linked electronically to the existing public school network.
Southwood’s community framework is focused on the Town Center at the 123 acre Central Park. The land uses are spatially arranged to draw together the activities of a traditional "Main Street" and its mix of uses, with workplace and school in an urban pedestrian environment linked by 12 miles of walking trails. An existing state office park adjoining the site is being expanded and integrated into the Town Center.
A distinctive architectural vernacular has been developed for Southwood based on small-town historic precedents: while townhouses border the streets close to Central Park, homes with broad verandas stretch along tree-lined roads and overlook Southwood’s golf course. The soft forms of the site’s natural systems, with its live oaks, meadows and necklace of ponds and lakes, frame the built environment, heightening the contrast between natural and man-made features.
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