CENTENNIAL YARDS
Reviving 50 acres of forgotten railyards to become the epicenter of sports and entertainment in the southeast.
For decades, the 50 acres in downtown Atlanta known as "The Gulch" sat abandoned—a forgotten scar nestled between Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena. When a massive $5 billion revitalization effort was launched to heal this divide, initial branding attempts fell flat because they lacked soul and were entirely disconnected from the city's true identity.
Brought in to rewrite the narrative, my team and I knew that to build the brand of the future, we had to look to the past.
Diving deep into historical archives and forgotten maps, we unearthed a profound truth: this very soil was the birthplace of Atlanta (originally named Terminus). It was the South's original railway hub of commerce. But the greatest discovery lay in the design of the tracks themselves. Due to the area's unique ports of entry, the traditional "Y" shaped railway wye was inverted. Viewed from above, it formed a perfect, undeniable "A."
It was a hidden symbol built into the city's foundation—a historical beacon waiting to be reignited.
Rooted in this authentic bedrock, we crafted a purposeful identity that seamlessly bridges Atlanta's origins with its ambitious tomorrow. Today, that vision is Centennial Yards, rising from the blueprints of the past to become the premier epicenter of sports, entertainment, and urban life in the Southeast.
