Holdsworth Center Sustainable Land Management Plan
The Holdsworth Center is a 44-acre urban retreat for public school teachers located in Austin, TX. Siglo Group was commissioned by Ten Eyck Landscape Architects to support the integration of human-nature interaction and ecological function into the project design, construction, and long-term management of the site.
Siglo Groups work included design support through design development, construction documents, specifications, and construction administration. In addition, we created a natural area management guidelines as a leave behind to guide the Holdsworth Center in managing this amazing piece of lake frontage at the mouth of Bull Creek. Areas of assessment included vegetation communities, hydrology, wildlife, and long-term management recommendations to protect this up-front investment and the ecological value of the site. In addition to construction administration, Siglo Group is working with Texas Conservation Corp on the project to ensure proper removal of invasive species and the establishment of native flora within the natural areas.
The final management plan provided a site ecology and characteristics section that summarized historic land use, current land use, geology, soils, topography, hydrology, plant communities, wildlife, and a review of threats to the natural areas. The land management section of the report detailed the importance of an adaptive management approach and guidelines for managing these resources. Finally, an implementation section provided custom instructions for utilizing professional and volunteer services, scheduling restoration work, metrics to assess progress, and ways of integrating ecology into the visitor experience.
The Holdsworth Center is currently in the construction phase, with an expected completion date of Fall 2020. Upon completion, the site will hold 18 buildings, 186 rooms for overnight stay, and 3,000 preserved native trees.