The Battery
Every day is game day
The new home of the Atlanta Braves is more than a state-of-the-art ballpark. It redefines the traditional model of a live, work, play development as a play, work, stay destination. With its unique shops, restaurants and entertainment venues, people can play throughout the day every day of the year. The idea was that "every day is game day" - to activate the stadium during non-game days, 365 days per year, and to extend the experience of a game throughout the day, and throughout the entire site.
At a Glance
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Innovative Programming
As part of our scope we were heavily involved in the programming, working with the Braves to find innovative solutions to help drive traffic to the project. Each element - retail, hospitality, food & beverage, and so on - was analyzed and ideated on in order to create as distinct a project as possible, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
The idea behind 'every day is game day' was that the variety of programming helps activate the project year-round.”
Our vision for the site involved creating numerous public spaces around the themes of parks and water, integrating nature into the project as much as possible.
Our scope of work included positioning the stadium within the overall master plan and presenting several different design scheme options to the client. Ultimately the stadium was designed to be lower than ground level, so that pedestrian activity outside of the stadium would flow directly in.
The urban design of this 24-hour mixed-use destination neighborhood was founded on organic planning where chance encounter is promoted, a variety of paths are provided and multiple centers of activity are planned that fluidly shift throughout the day. Natural shifts in grade throughout the site are used to great advantage in the choreography of the paths.
A study commissioned by Georgia Tech found that the taxpayers will be winners not because of the ballpark, but because of the retail project and the increased development near it.
The project, with early programming and planning work by JERDE, and subsequently worked on by several other design firms, has been a smashing success:
- Generates $12 million in annual revenue for county and local schools
- Revenue from The Battery is 4x that of the stadium