Populous Opens Newest Office in Atlanta

Populous is opening a new Atlanta office, marking its 16th location across the Americas, led by Rob Svedberg and Lee Pollock (l to r). Photo credit: Populous.

Posted February 17, 2026

Kansas City-based Populous announced it will be opening a new office in Atlanta, marking the 16th location in the Americas for the firm.

Populous now operates 16 offices in the Americas and 35 worldwide.

Leading the Atlanta office will be led by Rob Svedberg and Lee Pollock. The two are joining Populous to lead the office.

Svedberg brings over 30 years of experience and more than $6 billion in completed projects across convention centers, sports and live entertainment venues. His recent work includes projects such as the Las Vegas Convention Center, Raleigh Convention Center and the Javits Center in New York.

Pollock brings 30 years of experience in leading large‑scale master planning and real estate development strategy efforts for global private‑sector clients and major civic organizations. He was most recently a part of the principal urban design and landscape architecture group at Jacobs Engineering for over 12 years.

Additional team members joining the Atlanta office include Real Estate Strategy Director Jonathan Bartlett, Senior Landscape Architect Matt Friesen and Landscape Architect Meredith Mejia, who will be based in Dallas.

Collectively, the Atlanta team has more than 110 years of combined global design expertise.

“Establishing an office in Atlanta allows us to build on our longstanding foundation of delivering projects across the country in a meaningful way,” Global Director at Populous, Jonathan Mallie, said in the release. “Creating a local presence in Atlanta enables us to deepen our connection to the Southeast and work closely with our clients, partners and communities.”

Populous has designed more than 3,500 projects worth over $60 billion across emerging and established markets. The firm operates with over 1,600 employees in 35 global offices on four continents.