The campus weaves together multiple landscape typologies: from an upland play mound area to a lowland fountain fed from the adjacent lake. These sculptural mounds frame the garden and create an unfolding experience in the landscape where visitors engage the earth. At the central green, a serpentine water feature and large scale boulders allow for exploration and discovery. The perimeter of the garden includes other active elements such as a willow tunnels, informal council rings and hollowed out climbable wood logs.
The surrounding plant beds are a diverse palette of native plants and include a multisensory experience that engages all of the senses. The upper garden adjacent to the Learning Center includes an apiary, an outdoor classroom space for art and gardening classes. A large terrace that looks out onto the garden is used each morning for yoga and tai-chi classes each morning. Discovery and imagination are emphasized in this design, offering visitors fertile ground for the expansion of the mind and body.
As nature increasingly becomes a distant concept for children plugged into the digital world, this new garden encourages direction engagement with the natural cycles of nature and reconnects our youth to the ecological world. Credits: - Booth Hansen - Principal - Laurence Booth