Furman University

Furman University is a leading liberal arts university located in Greenville, South Carolina. The campus and its landscape has been an endearing feature of Greenville County for over sixty years. In 2008, Earth Design was commissioned to develop a lake restoration master plan for the 28 acre lake located on campus. The iconic lake has been a resource for the community and the university where hundreds of visitors walk, jog and cycle around the lake enjoying the passive, restive beauty of the lake.

The restive beauty however belied ecological problems that the lake was experiencing. The lake was becoming more shallow with sediments, fertilizers and pollutants entered the lake due to traditional maintenance and surrounding parking lot runoff, and feces from hundreds of water fowl combined to create extreme algae blooms and a persistent foul odor. As part of the master planning process, Earth Design did a comprehensive inventory to identify sources of pollutants and cultural practices that were detrimental to the long term health of the lake. The Master Plan design sought to reestablish natural systems and add bioengineering features to reduce silting, capture and reduce pollutants, and get more depth in the lake. The resulting Master Plan features riparian buffers, bioswales, stormwater wetlands, marsh islands, and people spaces. The project is another example of Earth Design’s commitment to environmental stewardship though Landscape Architecture.

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