The Park People Award for Tree Preservation

ASLA Texas Chapter Merit Award, Design

ASLA Texas Chapter Merit Award, Planning

Published in Healing Spaces

Designed as a series of outdoor spaces that promote a sense of community, the Heart of the Campus offers multiple spaces for dining, meeting, strolling, and relaxing. In the midst of a bosque of elms, is a rectangular lily pool. Here, koi add color and life to the space while the gentle splashing of water creates a cool and relaxing environment. As this space is adjacent to the cafeteria, a pair of dining terraces with arbors flanks the pool on two sides. Framing the terraces are beds of fragrant, organically grown culinary and ornamental herbs, invoking the notion of healthy dining.

To the east of the pool in an existing wooded area, an elevated cedar deck with grilling facilities and additional dining space is nestled into the trees, which occasionally puncture the deck, adding intimacy to the space.

On the north side of the court, a building is illustrated with a flower mural painted by a local artist. Below, a winding red terrazzo path meanders through a richly textured perennial and ornamental grass garden. Here, plants are chosen to interact with all the senses. This garden is a striking sight, from above and below.