The Plant
The Plant is an adaptive reuse project in Jackson's Fondren Warehouse District. Once an abandoned pipe factory, it now serves as a landscape architecture design campus, native plant nursery, and urban habitat supporting birds, pollinators, and other wildlife.
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Originally built as a pipe distribution facility in the 1960s, The Plant has been reclaimed as an adaptive reuse landmark in Jackson’s Fondren Warehouse District. Today, it operates as TREE’s design studio, landscape architecture campus, and a living laboratory for testing plants, materials, and spatial ideas. Beyond its role as a creative workspace, The Plant also serves as a curated setting for select gatherings where design, culture, and community intersect.
TREE designed, developed, and now operates its practice from The Plant. The building incorporates passive design strategies that prioritize energy efficiency and environmental performance, including a north-facing sawtooth roof for balanced daylighting, white reflective surfaces to reduce heat gain, and a central courtyard with floor-to-ceiling glazing that captures indirect sunlight. Large operable garage doors allow natural airflow to cool the building during spring and fall.
Stormwater is managed on site through an integrated system of constructed wetlands, bio-swales, bio-retention planters, a permeable parking surface, and a rainwater cistern. Native plant communities and natural materials are woven throughout the campus, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior and reinforcing The Plant’s role as both a working landscape and an evolving design experiment.
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2020 - Ongoing
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2-Acre Site
15,000 SF Building
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Jackson, Mississippi
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Landscape Architect, Lead Project Designer & Developer, Managing Partner - Travis Crabtree
Project Partners - Ray Neilsen, Jean Adams, Mitch and Shannon Miller
Architecture + Construction Documentation - WBA Architecture
Brand & Web Design, Business Development, Studio Operations & Venue Director - Ansley Crabtree
Contractor Partners - Brian Whitfield, Beyond Construction, Fountain Construction
Site Photography - Ansley Crabtree, Travis Crabtree
From Industrial Ground to Living Landscape
The Plant’s design blends preserved industrial architecture with an evolving native landscape, transforming what was once a largely concrete dominated site into a functioning ecological system. Constructed wetlands, integrated gardens, and seasonal plantings showcase native species adapted to local conditions, allowing the campus to manage stormwater, improve microclimate, and support ecological health. Experimental landscapes and curated interiors work together to create dynamic environments that serve as both a testing ground for design development and a setting for engagement, education, and select events.
