Memphis-based Haizlip Studio has been chosen as the architect of record for the University of Memphis’ $33 million land bridge and parking garage at Southern Avenue and Echles Street.

“We will be the primary architects on everything from planning and construction to administration and close out,” said Mary Haizlip, AIA, principal in charge of management at Haizlip Studio.

The project has been in the works for two years, and last year the university was approved to close the stretch of Echles Street between Southern Avenue and Spottswood Avenue where the land bridge and walking path will be built.

“Haizlip Studio has the rare blend of creativity, innovation and technical elegance that will help make the land bridge the transformational contribution to campus as originally intended,” Dr. David Rudd, University of Memphis president, said.

The land bridge and parking garage are part of a larger project on campus that will include a $62 million, 192,500-square-foot recreation center on the south side of campus, which is scheduled to begin construction this fall.

Haizlip Studio has worked on several University of Memphis projects, including the University Center, the University of Memphis Collierville campus and several Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades. In addition, the company was the design architect for the new University Center to which the land bridge will connect.

“This will really be a complementary piece to the University Center and the whole campus,” Haizlip said. “It will join the south side and provide for the safety of the students going across the railroad tracks. When the university was originally built, it was out east, and since Memphis has grown the campus has really been limited by the railroad. This will help expand that border.”