healthcare projects

texas organ sharing alliance – san antonio, texas

Imagine walking through a garden that inspired you to save eight lives. At the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance’s (TOSA) new home in the South Texas Medical Center, the outdoor environment is integrally important and embodies the organization’s mission: saving lives through the power of organ donation. The landscape design features simple forms and regenerative plantings, conveying an uplifting tone that is meaningful, connected and supportive of the staff and patient experience. A paved path encircling the outdoor lawn depicts TOSA’s mission on retaining walls and the event lawn within the loop memorializes individual organ donors by name. Like TOSA’s logo, which takes cues from ancient symbols such as the lemniscate, the loop represents a never-ending circuit of energy and allows users to circulate through the garden for respite and healing.

client: Texas Organ Sharing Alliance

dell children’s medical center of central texas – austin, texas

Anything but sterile and boring, time spent at Dell Children’s is full of whimsical play and immersive environments — and they’re integral to the therapeutic process. A pioneering healthcare facility, Dell Children’s prioritizes the restorative powers of nature and unstructured play to aid recovery and well-being. Its sustainable approaches also set new standards for healthcare design; it was the world’s first LEED Platinum healthcare facility. The outdoor healing garden serves as the hospital’s backyard and includes a labyrinth, human sundial, ponds and a butterfly garden amid bright colors and textural variety. A multi-level courtyard depicts the six ecoregions found in the hospital’s 46-county service area, with characteristic native plants articulating a regional story. The facility’s remarkable impact spurred expansion and the development of a third bed tower that was completed summer 2013, as well as more recent enhancements.

client: Seton Network Facilities

texas health frisco – frisco, texas

A community health facility that helps facilitate well-being by empowering community members to take an active role in their health and wellness. The new Texas Health Frisco campus is designed to create a sense of community within its grounds as well as connectivity and engagement with the surrounding city through a thoughtful arrangement of facilities, site circulation and landscape structure. Through the site plan, architecture and landscape design, visitors and staff can enjoy a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces as day-to-day amenities while, at the same time, connecting community through event programming. The campus design also prioritizes environmental sensitivity with focuses on low energy use, efficient site orientation, water reclamation, and a landscape defined by native plants with minimal maintenance needs.

client: HKS Architects

our lady of the lake children’s hospital – baton rouge, louisiana

It’s Baton Rouge’s first freestanding, dedicated children’s hospital— and its physical environment articulates a rich story of regional history, geography and zoology. The new six-story facility includes an immersive outdoor environment that is integral to the therapeutic process and pays homage to Louisiana’s physical environment. The hospital’s healing garden accommodates whimsical recreation, passive contemplation, events like fundraisers, and dedicated staff areas to unwind. Conceptually, the garden evokes Louisiana’s geography with boardwalks passing over depressed, swamp-like grounds, thick pines conjuring piney woods, play mounds inspired by hills, meandering walks recalling winding rivers, and plantings representing the arpents brought over by the French. A prominent statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, is right at home among animal statues, tracks imprinted into concrete walks, and three oversized bird houses for an owl, woodpecker and brown pelican.

client: HKS

floyd curl complete street – san antonio, texas

This 1.7-mile street design is an innovative adaptation of a major thoroughfare into a pedestrian-focused recreational amenity and multimodal complete street in the heart of the South Texas Medical Center. The Floyd Curl Complete Street enhances the public realm of the Medical Center through shaded and generously proportioned sidewalks, a continuous two-way separated bike lane, planted medians, and careful integration of both vehicular and pedestrian signage into a cohesive district identity.

client: Medical Center Alliance / City of San Antonio

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