Lee W. Garrard, RLA, ASLA

Partner

Lee graduated from the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design in 1993 with a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture. He began his career as a master planner working at DGM Land Planning in Marietta Georgia. It was there that he discovered an affinity with the Master Planning process. This was his first exposure to large scale land planning and he assisted in the development of numerous residential and urban planning projects.

In 1998, Lee left DGM to begin working with acclaimed planner Robert E. Marvin at his offices in Walterboro, South Carolina. This was quite a change of pace, leaving the Atlanta area for the tidal waters of Colleton County. The office building itself was located in the headwaters of the Ashepoo River, and was referred to as “a design platform in Great Swamp.” Nature literally poured in through the doors and windows. Through hours upon hours spent with Mr. Marvin in this environment, Lee learned the philosophy and approach to design that only Robert Marvin could teach. The most noted of his philosophies still stands out in Lee’s mind today, and that is that people are made up of only two things – Their genetically inherited characteristics and the environment that develops those characteristics.

In 2000, Lee joined DesignWorks, one of the largest Landscape Architecture firms in the Southeast. There, Lee honed his techniques in Landscape Architecture. While with DesignWorks, he received leadership roles with some of the largest projects that the firm had worked on in its history. Community parks, large scale master planning projects, downtown revitalization, and resort planning all fell within his range of work experience.

In 2007, Lee left DesignWorks and joined with Lauren Stubbs to form MedicineWheel Land Planning. He had long visualized a company intent on proving that complex programs can be put on the earth in a sensitive and logical way. Lee’s goal for the future is to combine the philosophy he has learned over the years with the experience he has had leading a team, and help guide the ongoing market transformation from traditional development values to the possibilities associated with the growing sustainability movement. The reason that MedicineWheel was formed is to educate while learning, to act while watching and to encourage this world to celebrate and revere the link between Man and Nature.