Gardens that look as though they were always here.
landscape architecture | fine garden designThat’s the magic of working with Alec. He and his team are very adept at creating special spaces. The property looks at least 10 years old.William T. Baker, residential designer — speaking about a Land Plus garden in
Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, “Rooted in Tradition”
Forty-one years of drawing Atlanta’s gardens.
Land Plus Associates was founded in 1985 by Kenneth Lemm and Alec Michaelides, both Bachelors of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech. The practice is now in its fifth decade.
We are a design practice, not a maintenance company. We draw, we permit, we administer construction, and we hand off to contractors we have worked with for years. Estate and private residential work, mostly in Buckhead and the neighbourhoods around it — occasionally further afield.
The measure of the work is not how new it looks on the day it finishes. It is whether, five years on, anyone can tell it was designed at all.
Working the way the site already wants to work.
Alec Michaelides, describing a Buckhead project to Period Homes:
“The original structural design of the site was well-conceived; we just needed to define, articulate, and refine these spaces.”
Axial lines, parterres, grade, caliper, the placement of a house on its lot. The vocabulary is old because the problems are old. Getting the major decisions right the first time is most of the job.
“Colonial Revival Landscape”
Twenty-six acres in Buckhead, around a 1920s Colonial Revival country house originally designed by Aymar Embury II. The award citation closes on exterior spaces “as timeless as the house itself”.
Awarded by the Palladio Awards and reported by Period Homes (Kiley Jacques, 25 July 2017). Alec G. Michaelides, ASLA.
- The firm also lists a 2016 Philip Trammell Shutze Award for Landscape Garden Design, “A Georgian Country Estate”.
- The firm lists a 2013 Georgia ASLA Award of Excellence, “English Hillside Manor”.
- The firm lists 2011 Tri-State Honor and Merit Awards.
- Members: ASLA · C.L.A.R.B. · Institute of Classical Architecture & Art · Lutyens Trust America.
Awards below the Palladio are as listed by the firm on its own profile.
The part of the drawing nobody sees until it is built.
Masonry, ironwork, the fall of a terrace, where a hedge stops. Four from the practice’s own details portfolio.
All photography above is the practice’s own portfolio work. No client, project name or address is identified.
What the practice actually does.
Estate and Private Residential Design
The core of the practice since 1985.
Illustrative Master Planning
The whole site, resolved on paper before anything is moved.
Residential Construction Permitting
Regulatory work and land planning, handled in-house.
Construction Drawings
Documents a contractor can build from without guessing.
Planting Plans
Species, caliper, spacing — specified to grow in.
Residential Project Management
Administering the build through to handover.
The six services above are the practice’s own published list.
Two Virginia Tech landscape architects, since 1985.
Alec Michaelides
The design principal — described by the firm for his fine eye for site planning and landscape design. The partner named in the Palladio citation and quoted in the press. Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Virginia Tech.
Kenneth Lemm
In charge of the day-to-day operations at the firm. Site planning, engineering and project management, regulatory issues and land planning. Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Virginia Tech.
Charlie Sears — Managing Principal, joined 2012. UGA College of Environment and Design. The firm lists him as a Georgia-licensed Professional Landscape Architect and a GSWCC Level II Certified Design Professional.
Chris Holden — Managing Principal, joined 2013. UGA College of Environment and Design. The firm lists him as a Georgia-licensed Professional Landscape Architect.
Three homeowners, on the record.
He has saved me many sleepless nights, and I trust him completely to do whatever he thinks is best. I think of him as my landscape therapist.
We got all the major decisions right the first time — the placement of the home on the lot, the key access points, traffic flow.
Their work is customized and tailored to my unique residence. There is no ‘one size fits all’ with Land Plus.
Reviews published on Houzz on the dates shown, quoted verbatim and trimmed for length. Shown individually and with dates rather than as an average, because they are ten years old.
445 Pharr Road NE
The practice works from Buckhead, a mile and a half from the gardens it draws. Drawings, permitting and construction administration all happen here.
Atlanta and the neighbourhoods around it, with projects reaching beyond Georgia.
Start a conversation.
- Studio
- 445 Pharr Road NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30305 - Telephone
- (404) 238-9595