building
common
ground
Our story began in 2001, at the outset of the Metro Nashville Planning Department’s Urban Design Studio. Keith helped establish the Design Studio, and played a key role in fundamentally changing Nashville’s approach to planning and urban design.
More than ten years later, we have worked on dozens of projects for municipalities, private developers, and other planning and design professionals in 20 states across the U.S. The single thread throughout all of our projects has been that the greatest outcomes are achieved when we find common ground.
Keith Covington, RA, AICP
Keith Covington brings over twenty years of professional experience in planning, urban design, and architecture to Common Ground. Keith earned his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and his Masters of Architecture in Urban Design at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. As a graduate of these programs, Keith has a unique understanding of traditional patterns of urban design from the regional scale down to the scale of the building. Keith is certified with the National Charrette Institute for public engagement, serves as a board member of the The Urban Guild, and is a member of the Nashville Civic Design Center’s President’s Council and the Form-Based Code Institute’s Resource Council. While he is an accomplished registered architect, Keith’s primary focus over the past 15 years has been walkable urban planning and design at all scales from the region to the block. Prior to starting his private practice in 2006, Keith was the director of the Metro Nashville Planning Department’s Design Studio where he helped reinvent Nashville’s approach to planning, public engagement, and coding.
affiliations
American Planning Association
Congress for the New Urbanism
American Institute of Architects
New Urban Guild
awards
2018 Local Government Award
Greater Nashville Regional Council, South Hartmann Gateway Plan, Lebanon, TN
2018 Best Project/Outstanding Plan Award
Mississippi Chapter of the American Planning Association, Downtown Plan, Natchez, MS
2017 Outstanding Plan Award for Smaller Communities
Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association, Lowry Street Revitalization Plan, Smyrna, TN
2017 Outstanding Plan Award for Larger Communities
Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association, Downtown Planning Studies, Murfreesboro, TN
2016 Outstanding Planning Award
Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association, Downtown Chattanooga Form-based Code, Chattanooga, TN
2014 Design Award
Delaware Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, The Flats Redevelopment, Wilmington, DE
2012 Achievement in Urban Development or Design
Downtown Russellville Master Plan, Russellville, AR
2010 Driehaus Award
Form Based Codes Institute, Heart of Peoria Form Districts, Peoria, IL
2009 Community Development Award
North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association, Washington Drive District Plan, High Point, NC
2008 Best Plan of the Year Award
Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association, Northport Riverfront and Downtown Plan, Northport, AL
2007 Outstanding Planning Award
Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association, Bedford Avenue Urban Design Overlay, Nashville, TN
