The Edge June/July/August 2026

CONQUERING CHALLENGES

There’s No Place Like Home: Creating Walmart’s Welcoming Campus Headquarters

By Jill Odom

WHEN WALMART DECIDED TO create a new headquarters, the scale of the project was like building a city from the ground up. The new home office features 12 office buildings as well as a number of amenity buildings spread across more than 400 acres. Clay Bakker, director of landscape for Walmart, says the company emphasized listening to associates to determine which amenities truly mattered most. Walmart’s home office is a commitment to associates’personal well-being and provides quality-of-life benefits such as on-campus child care, a fitness center and a food hall with diverse options. The cam pus also serves as a model for sustainability and community integration. “This is where the landscape comes into that picture as well,” Bakker says. “Because I think one thing that’s prevalently under stood is that human beings’connection to nature is a very fulfilling experience. We had areas in between these buildings and amenity spaces, and why wouldn’t we give people that connection to nature?” Brooke Garcia, senior manager of land scape operations for Walmart, adds that 50% of the campus is dedicated to natural

together and fulfills the needs of 15,000 associates. “Community is at the heart of our culture,” Bakker says. “It’s a great place to bring everybody together. We maximize our ability to generate ideas when we’re together.” Throughout the campus, intention al placemaking elements, such as art installations, have been included to tell the Walmart story and carry forward their culture, heritage and core values. Garcia says the team worked with the artists and design associates to bring these instal lations to life by surrounding them with nature and greenery. Another space designed for gathering is the Helen Walton outdoor amphitheater,

space. This was an intentional design choice. Unlike many other corporate campus es, Walmart’s home office is open to the public. “There’s a seamless integration between the community and the greater northwest Arkansas ecological system,” Garcia says. For instance, Walmart’s bike trails con nect to the Razorback Greenway, which is a 40-mile trail that runs from Bella Vista to Fayetteville. “I think this campus really reflects, in many ways, what Walmart means to the community and what it is capable of on a larger scale as well,” Bakker says. Bakker says another benefit of the new home office campus is that it brings

Photos: (Top right) © SWA Group – David Lloyd (Bottom) © SWA Group – Bill Tatham

16 The Edge // June/July/August 2026