PRESS RELEASE

ATLANTA – (April 5, 2023) – Pond today announced two key hires that will further strengthen the firm’s higher education team and provide clients with unmatched experience and expertise in architecture and campus planning for colleges, universities, technical colleges, and other education campus environments and facilities.

Gene Bell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, has joined the firm as the Director of Architecture. In this role, Bell will be working with the firm’s higher education and municipal clients and projects. He is based out of Pond’s Columbia, S.C., office.

Tony Catchot, ASLA, RLA, has joined Pond as the firm’s Campus Planning and Design Lead. Catchot will work collaboratively with other Pond practice leaders to enhance Pond’s integrated Campus Planning and Design Practice to serve clients in the education, research and innovation, health and wellness, and sports and recreation markets. Catchot is part of the design team operating out of Pond’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

Bell brings to Pond 22 years of architecture and design experience as well as an extensive array of expertise with higher education and municipal projects in North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. He has managed numerous award-winning projects including the City of Columbia’s Water and Wastewater Division Facility, the University of South Carolina’s Jerri and Steve Spurrier Indoor Football Practice Facility, and Midlands Technical College’s Harbison Theater. 

“Their impressive backgrounds in campus planning and architecture allow us to continue offering our clients the benefits of the knowledge and expertise that our higher education team bring to every project.”

Catchot has over 35 years of experience encompassing planning and design experience for public and private sector projects both across the U.S. and internationally. He spent 10 years at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he served as Assistant University Planner, and was instrumental in the Master Plan Updates of the University’s five campuses. Additional projects include University of South Carolina Upstate Campus Plan, United State Air Force Academy Cadet Area Plan, and campus plans at Baylor University, Louisiana State University, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Catchot also has extensive experience in the private development, corporate office, and health, research and industrial sectors.

Pond Executive Vice President of Infrastructure James McNabb said the addition of Bell and Catchot adds additional expertise to Pond’s already strong higher education team.

“Tony and Gene bring to Pond practical and insightful planning and design of higher education campuses and facilities that can only be gained through experience. Their impressive backgrounds in campus planning and architecture allow us to continue offering our clients the benefits of the knowledge and expertise that our higher education team brings to every project. Tony and Gene broaden this experience and strengthen the team of experts we already have in place and are poised to grow in the coming years.”

Bell currently serves as a Trustee on the South Carolina Architectural Foundation and sits on Historic Columbia’s Design Preservation Committee. He received a Bachelor of Science in Design and a Master of Architecture from Clemson University. Bell is registered in South Carolina and Georgia.

Catchot serves as an Officer for the Campus Planning and Design Professional Practice Network of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); as Vice Chair for the Parks, Green Spaces and Trails Commission for the City of Norcross, Georgia; and is a member of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). He received his degree in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and is licensed in Michigan and Georgia (pending).

About Pond

Pond is a full-service consulting firm providing integrated engineering, architecture, planning, and construction management solutions to public and private clients since 1965. Our staff, located throughout the U.S. and globally, is committed to delivering tailored solutions. Recognizing that clients benefit the most when multi-disciplined expertise is leveraged, Pond builds teams based on client and project requirements, regardless of location, reinforcing our “One Pond” culture.