For some, it isn’t their head that leads them to Savannah; it’s their heart. Forrest Lott found the Hostess City by way of St. Patrick’s Day. He was in the final stages of earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Auburn University when he discovered the town that would become his permanent home.
“My plan was to come work in an historic, small town for two years and then get a ‘real’ job in Atlanta,” says Lott, Principal at local design, planning and architecture firm Lott + Barber.
He moved to Savannah to work on his final thesis project focused on “contemporary design in the historic context.”
He’s been doing that ever since.
The family firm began in 1990 with Lott and his wife Susan. A year later, the duo brought on Scott Barber who would eventually become a partner in 1999. The firm has since grown to be one of the most respected and recognizable names in the coastal architecture community. And their mission has placed a premium on high-tech, integrated and creative design.
Being in Savannah, with its unique layout, environment and sense of place, it wasn’t long before Lott + Barber began to look outside the box, to see beyond architecture and to the dynamics, challenges and rewards of community planning. Today, they’re a partner in the ambitious project that is Sustainable Fellwood.
Set in historic West Savannah, the Fellwood project combines many aspects of modern day development: green building design, mixed-use, mixed-income components, and sensitive historical context. Additionally, it gave Lott + Barber the opportunity to function on all four cylinders: architecture, community planning, visual communication and Integrated Project Delivery.
“Sustainable Fellwood is important to us because of its transformative effect on the West Savannah community,” says Lott. “It also combines all the elements on which our firm is focused.”
Lott + Barber’s emphasis on Integrated Project Delivery is perhaps the most forward-looking component of their mission, and one that is reshaping the architecture field. Integrated Project Delivery is a project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, and business practices into a process that harnesses the talents and insights of all team members. This process benefits from early contributions of knowledge and expertise from all members of the design and construction teams, while using Building Information Modeling to expand the value they provide throughout the life of the project.
“We’re proud to be a small firm in a fairly small community focused on some pretty big things,” says Lott.
Lott + Barber are close partners with The Creative Coast Alliance, serving as the head sponsor of the 2008 and 2009 Innovation Awards.
