Atlanta, Lithonia, Stonecrest, Decatur, & Chattahoochee Hills, GA; Chattanooga, TN; Opeleika & Auburn AL; and Los Angeles, CA

MRS has applied our interdisciplinary skillset (landscape architecture, architecture, interior design, and urban design) toward a number of project types, including:

Hospitality projects, including restaurants, retreats, and event space

Land planning for ecotourism, mixed-use, and med-high density projects

Cultural heritage and adaptive reuse for significant historic sites and structures

Private residential additions, renovations, interior design, and ecological landscape designs

Significant community design and storytelling projects

Civic and institutional projects

Social and criminal justice projects for women and children

MRS has had the opportunity to work with a number of ambitious clients and collaborators. In our 4 years we’ve worked with the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, Fulton County Arts, DeKalb County, Talecia Tucker, City of Lithonia, Poolsprite, Amy Landesberg Art and Design, Iman Person, Anh-ton Tran, Chattahoochee Queen, Office of Brothers, Stability Engineering, Shear Structural, B-10, InBloom, Nourish Botanica, Bromstad Printing, Unclaimed Combinations, David Naugle, Belco Electrical, Fulton County Juvenile Justice Center, Villa Albertine, Silt Studio, Scott Morris, New South Associates, Proficient Engineering, Whitespace Gallery, Recess Concepts, Jennifer Bonner/MALL, Future Perfect, Afterglow Tattoo, Shades of Green Permaculture, Invest Atlanta, Happily Dressed, Dessa Lohrey, One Most, Redeeming Grace Ministries, Cross-Miller, Dogpile Carpentry, Morgan Oliver School, Gwendolyn and Isaac Cohen, a number of Private Clients, and so many more folks.

Awards

• X-Houses (MALL/ Jennifer Bonner) Urbanize write up featuring MRS

• In 2023/4 MRS was anonymously nominated by members of our community for 2 prestigious national awards.

• MRS received a National ASLA Honor Award in Communications in 2023. We were recognized for our community engagement at the Historic Bruce Street School. Client: Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance

• In 2023 Carley received another National ASLA Honor Award in Analysis and Planning as a Faculty Advisor to Brooke Freeman. This project was a part of Carley’s BLA Captone studio at UGA CED. The project was a Downtown Masterplan for Montezuma, GA. Client: Montezuma Downtown Development Authority

• One of our first completed projects, the LA Croix House, received an AIA GA Merit Award for Residential Under $1 Million in 2023. Client: Private Homeowner

Press

• Archinect write up on ASLA 2023 Professional Awards

• This Whimsical Atlanta Home was Inspired by La Croix Cans (Clever / Architectural Digest)

• John’s Forest featured on Landezine (LILA)

• Transmuted Tracings featured on Landezine (LILA)

• Fulton County Announces Groundbreaking of its ‘Courtyard of Second Chances’

• Project aims to preserve Lithonia’s Bruce Street School

• Historic Bruce Street School to Unveil Conceptual Designs

• Conceptual design for DeKalb County’s historic first Black public school to be unveiled in September

• Transmuted Tracings @ Whitespace

• Recess Buckhead feature in the Atlantan

• Another community engagement session scheduled for Bruce Street ruins

• The Shape of Things to Come (Landscape Architecture Magazine)

• Historic Bruce Street School Preservation Moving Forward (AMNHA)

• Lean-to ADU for LADBS Approved Standard Plans (with Jennifer Bonner/MALL)

• Recess Buckhead Eater Feature

• Recess Buckhead AJC Feature

We stay busy. Outside of MRS Jennifer and Carley are active participants in their local and professional communities. Here are some ways we’ve been engaging:

We’ve served on 2 thesis committees, including a SCAD Master of Architecture student, and a UGA Master of Historic Preservation student.

MRS has participated in at least a dozen student reviews at UGA, GT, KSU, and AU in their landscape architecture, and architecture programs.

Carley has taught part-time at UGA’s CED since 2022. She teaches landscape architecture studios to BLAs. and MLAs.

We actively mentor designers in the early stages of their career. Many of these individuals have reached out via email or instagram. We believe in making time for the next generation of architects and landscape architects.

In 2023 we began an internship program we hope to continue each year. We were blown away by the number of applicants interested. It was especially meaningful to see that many applicants were women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQ+. We plan to continue building a practice that feels welcoming to the most under-represented in our fields. According to a recent ASLA study 7% of landscape architects identify as non-white and about 30% are women. AIA reported in 2023 that 17% of AIA enrolled architects identify as belonging to a minority racial and or ethnic group. Despite enrollment being above 50% for women in education, only 26% of female architects are enrolled with AIA.

Every year we provide pro bono services to small minority owned businesses, individuals, or organizations in need of design services. This work has included rezoning, space planning and programming, presentations, neighborhood meetings, design, and budgeting.

Experimentation is an important part of our practice. We engage with our local arts community to share our experimentation publicly. In 2021 we attended the Hambidge Center for a 2 week residency. In 2023 we exhibited our work at Whitespace Gallery in Shedspace. We have an exhibition scheduled for early 2025 at Weslyan College in Macon, GA.

Last year Carley participated in the Atlanta Design Festival by hosting a workshop that was included in the festival’s exhibition and speaker series. This work was in collaboration with Hannah Palmer, UGA CED, and Villa Albertine.

Carley has maintained an art and research practice for over a decade. Her projects interrogate themes related to everyday life and the built environment through field research, documentation, scholarship, exhibition, and social practice. For more visit her website.