Populous opens new Atlanta office in Old Fourth Ward, expanding Americas footprint to 16 locations
A new Southeast base for a global venue design firm
Populous, a global architecture and design firm best known for large public-assembly venues, has opened a new office in Atlanta, increasing the company’s Americas network to 16 offices and its worldwide total to 35. The move establishes a permanent base in the Southeast and formalizes a local presence in a city where the firm has worked for decades on sports and civic projects.
The Atlanta office is located in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood at 505 N. Angier Avenue NE, placing the firm within walking distance of the Atlanta BeltLine and Ponce City Market. The location positions Populous close to a fast-growing corridor where redevelopment, transportation planning and public-space investments continue to reshape how people move through and gather in the city.
Leadership hires signal focus on convention centers and city-building work
The Atlanta office is being led by two senior hires: Rob Svedberg, an architect with more than three decades of experience across convention centers, sports and live-entertainment venues, and Lee Pollock, a senior urban designer with a background in large-scale master planning and real estate strategy.
Svedberg’s portfolio includes work connected to major convention center initiatives in the U.S., including projects in Las Vegas, Raleigh and New York. Pollock’s experience spans urban design and landscape architecture, disciplines increasingly integrated into arena, stadium and convention-center districts as cities seek year-round activity beyond event days.
Additional roles tied to the Atlanta buildout include real estate strategy and landscape architecture positions, with some team members based outside Georgia. The company has framed the office launch as part of a broader staffing strategy intended to grow around specialized expertise.
Atlanta track record includes major sports venues and ongoing regional work
Populous’ Atlanta-area résumé includes Truist Park (completed in 2017) and Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion (completed in 2013). The firm also lists Synovus Park (completed in 2025) among recent projects. Beyond completed work, Populous has identified ongoing assignments at Mobile Arena, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium.
The company has also tied its long-term Southeast presence to planning and delivery work associated with the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, using that period as a reference point for its historic relationship with the region’s large event and infrastructure projects.
What the expansion suggests for the regional market
Proximity to clients and projects: A permanent Atlanta base can shorten project cycles for complex facilities that require frequent coordination with owners, operators and public agencies.
Broader service mix: The staffing blend—architecture, urban design, landscape architecture and real estate strategy—reflects a trend toward designing entire districts around venues, not only the buildings themselves.
Competition for specialized talent: By locating in an established in-town innovation and redevelopment corridor, the firm is positioning itself in a talent market that includes both local design practices and national firms with growing Atlanta footprints.
The opening adds a new Atlanta-based platform for large civic and sports projects, while underscoring the city’s continued role as a hub for Southeast development and event-driven infrastructure.