LSG Landscape Architecture completed master planning for the Loudoun County Department of General Services and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services for the 460-acre Shellhorn property near the Leesburg Airport. LSG was the prime consultant, providing overall land use and recreation planning, while directing the efforts of civil and traffic engineers, architects, and experts in natural and cultural resources and air quality.
In conjunction with an abutting 100-acre County parcel, the Shellhorn site now includes a new Fire and Rescue Training Facility, Park and Ride Lot, other county facilities and Town of Leesburg water tank. The balance of the site was developed as a countywide park, with 17 lighted athletic fields, parks maintenance facilities and preserved forest, wetlands and floodplain. LSG was responsible for identifying and assembling the unique program needs of the co-locating agencies, preparing a detailed master plan and coordinating the Special Exception and Commission Permit approval processes for each of those uses.
As part of the planning for the Government Support Center, LSG utilized Green Infrastructure planning objectives, designed to create contiguous areas of preserved open space, focusing on the County’s natural, cultural, heritage, environmental assets. The LSG team examined the Shellhorn site’s steam corridors, wetlands and floodplains, steep slopes, forests and habitat areas, and historic or cultural sites to determine how best to utilize the site in a manner sympathetic to its important characteristics.
