REFERENCES: https://vancouver.ca/your-government/city-of-vancouver-archives.aspx
To put a loved one into long term care is never an easy thing. Located in front of Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Mount Pleasant, this garden seeks to help families dealing with the guilt and trauma of this difficult transition through a journey of acceptance. Fragrant and tactile spaces offer a mindful experience that can be shared between visiting family members and residents to improve the quality of their time together. Intimate alcoves give an opportunity to develop a meaningful relationship with care workers and foster trust. The Pathways to Acceptance Gardens offers holistic and meaningful healing through multisensory spatial experience.
The garden is located in the Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver, just north of the Mount Saint Joseph’s field hospital.
Northeast of the selected site is Kingsway Street, a busy road in Vancouver. A line of spruce trees runs around the field north of the site, standing about 20 meters tall (see site photos).
An in depth site analysis was done before the health issue was selected. The most noticeable initial “landmarks” were the spruce trees lining the field, the existing Liriodendron tulipifera, and the slope leading down into the hospital parking lot. Each of these elements would play a significant role in the design process. (See Assignment 1A for all site photos and site sketches).
A multisensory analysis was also done on site. The main takeway was there was considerable noise from both Kingsway Street and the hospital. Crows were very prevalent in the spruce but the border plantings on the southwest side of the site were home hummingbirds and chickadees.
I discovered the hospital had a long term care facility on its second floor. While choosing a health issue, I realized this area was quite far away from the residents and it would be difficult for them to visit a garden on a regular basis. (See figure below for relative distance).
Since it was next to one of the larger parking areas, I saw this as an opportunity to design a garden for the people who were visiting their loved ones. Those who had to make the difficult decision to transition the care of someone who may have once cared for them. This decision is almost universal in western society, and yet the guilt and trauma that comes with it is seldom discussed or researched. The concept diagram below summarizes the key takeaways from my research, and some early ideas of how to help alleviate this health issue spatially.
From here I performed several different iterations of two different concepts (detailed extensively in the assignment 1B post). The first idea was a series of three small spaces, each one weaving a narrative of acceptance as the visitor moves from the parking lot to the hospital.
As I drew sections for this concept I realized planting would play an important role in establishing the different sightlines of each terrace.
The second set of iterations focused on improving the relationship between care workers and family members of residents, while also having a space dedicated to improving the quality of the visit. This “quality” space ranged from a flower picking garden to meandering paths, but the idea was that it would be accessible if family members wanted to bring the residents there during their visits.
During the development phase of the alcove concept, I played with the idea of lighting in the alcoves. People would be visiting their family members year round (usually after work) and it was important that these spaces be usable after dark. While no detailed lighting plan made it into the final design, it is an important consideration.
While I liked the idea of a narrative connecting each space, I felt the research supported the alcove concept more than anything else. The final design takes the idea of a journey of acceptance, but the usable space within it is broken up into rooms designed to increase the quality of the visit, and strengthen the relationship family members have with care workers. The Shattered Rock Sculpture serves to draw attention to the garden upon entrance, and to represent the traditional care dynamic being shattered. This brings the user into the garden both physically (through sightlines) and mentally (through metaphor).
The Fragrant Memories space is a year round fragrance garden that can either be experienced alone or with a loved one staying at the hospital. The idea is to use fragrance to draw upon pleasant memories, to acknowledge the care dynamic that once existed, even if it has shifted to a new normal. There is a table in this area for arranging fragrant bouquets, one side is benchless to accommodate wheelchairs.
The Grounding Plain serves to bring the user into the present through touch. Tall pensive drooping plants hang over a boardwalk. Through touch and form, this space gives a feeling of changeability, that despite a dynamic of care being shifted, there is still hope for meaningful visits and connections. Users can bring their loved ones with mobility issues to this space through the Fragrant Memories area.
The Alcoves represent the hope for a future care dynamic. Situated on the west side of the site to protect from the sound of both the hospital and Kingsway Street, these areas use the sound of birds (and rain in the winter) to further mask these disruptive noises. The plantings are enclosed and intimate, allowing users and care workers to discuss a future for their loved ones with a sense of safety and privacy.
The sculptural shrub near the exit of the site calls back to the Shattered Rock Sculpture. As boulders come together around a beautiful red-veined enkianthus, the possibility of acceptance and a new care dynamic comes to fruition.
The slope is planted with sun loving grasses, calling back to the areas of the garden that can be shared with loved ones. The idea behind this is that when entering from the hospital side, people may be bringing their relatives (the residents). The garden is designed for the healing of the visitors, but the residents experience in the space is integral to this healing. As such, it was important that the “exit” served as a meaningful entrance when bringing loved ones. The sun loving grasses and existing trees serve as a welcoming entrance, whereas the northern entrances are more focused and somber. Once a place of acceptance has been reached, the garden shifts and offers up opportunity for quality time with residents. The grass on the slope captures all of this, and also visually connects to the plantings of the Grounding Plain, one of the main shared spaces in the garden. Finally this is also the view residents would have from their floor of the hospital (see Assignment 1B) and it is important that this view offers a feeling of invitation.
The following section cuts across the main path down, showcases how the garden functions as a journey through space and acceptance. Note the border plantings ensuring a sense of privacy.
The transverse section below showcases the alcove design and fragrance garden.
Each planting served to emphasize the goal of each space. The diagram below summarizes the goal of each planting.
The entrance plantings serve to visually connect the site to the existing spruce trees, as well as focus attention of the large shattered rock sculpture. This draws the user into the garden both physically and mentally.
The Fragrant Memories space offers year round olfactory experience, a space users can reflect and enjoy with loved ones staying at Mount Saint Joseph’s Hospital or on their own before a visit.
The Grounding Plain gives the opportunity to bring oneself to the present through touch, with soft drooping plants blurring the lines between the pathway and the plantings. It offers open space, opportunity and resting space.
The Alcoves offer a intimate space, where the sound of birds, or rain softly falling on a roof give an escape from the buzz of the hospital or constant hum of Kingsway Street. These alcoves are located in the quietest part of the site.
The plan below details what plants are used for each area in the Pathways to Acceptance Garden.
Through multisensory planting and topography, a loud, poorly drained field next to a parking lot has transformed into a space where visitors can move through and heal. Processing the guilt and trauma transitioning a loved on into long term care is a long process, but this garden offers a hollistic and meaninful start on that journey.
SITE PLAN: Seasons of Care
Longitudinal section: Moving Down through the Garden (in progress)
Transverse Section: Sightlines withing the Garden (in progress)
PLANTING GOALS
After investigating the topography and multisensory qualities of my site, and investigating the idea that a garden could heal the guilt and difficult emotions associated with having to transfer the care of aging loved ones, I was encouraged to dive deeper and try some completely different ideas.
From my intial research I knew there were several ways that people could come to terms with such difficult emotions. My previous post showed a focus on strengthening the relationship with the care workers through intimate spaces, as well as a mindfulness garden one could bring their loved one to, I wanted return to the research and try something new.
I decided to iterate on the idea of acceptance, and tried to design a space that would help people realize that accepting care from whatever dynamic they had been used to is okay.
The final idea I settled on was a set of three terraces, each one with a zen garden of sorts. The first a reflection and memory space to realize the dynamic of care that once existed. The second a shattered rock garden representing the difficult change in that dynamic and finally a permaculture planting to symbolize that is okay to accept care from places outside that dynamic (the care workers).
There was also a hidden path that would be visible on the way back from the first visit, encorperating all three elements and having a viewing area where all three terraces could be seen.
I wanted eacb garden to have a multisensory element that strengthened the message.
I developed some sections to see the reality of the elevations and how I might have to use planting to achieve the sightlines and experiences I was envisioning.
While there were elements of this concept that I like (the prevailing narrative). I ultimately decided that my original concept had stronger research backing it. Having a space that could be used to strength the relationship between care workers and the family members of patients was too crucial to be left out. That being said, as I returned to iterate this original concept, I noticed elements of the terrace idea appearing in some iterations.
The final form I decided to refine had elements from both ideas. While the intimate alcoves and more open space for “quality of visit” remained, I also decided that weaving a narrative of acceptance could help inform my circulation and give more weight to the areas outside the alcoves in my garden.
As I was iterating I also used sections to get a sense of how these mounded alcoves would take up space. Through these sections I realized that reducing the number of the alcoves would allow for much more robust planting.
The triangular form shown below was taken form the tops of the spruce trees just outside the site. These tree tops are prevelant in most sightlines in the area (sometimes more so than the buildings themselves).
This final form would be taken into Rhino for further refinement and application of multisensory design. The section below gives an idea of the elevation elements I would be working with.
While I was developing this form I also made a very rough model to help investigate the complex topography of my site. Note that the form of this model was not the exact form I settled on, but it did help me realize the importance planting would play in achieving the sightlines I wanted.
From here the next steps are refining the design, choosing plants that reflect my healing aspect and putting together a refined final representations that fully capture my site. More to come!
NEXT STEPS:
Investigate optimal planting for each area.
Incorporate drainage into water sound feature
Refine and iterate form of pathways and plantings
Explore optimal arrangement of meeting “rooms”
Refine pretty much everything else too.
The following drawings show a plan of the proposed drawing, along with several observational drawings depicting the multi sensory aspects of the site and its surrounding context (hospital, Kingsway, etc).
The following photos and sketches document my intial observations on the site I have selected for my garden design. It sits on the north side of the Mount Saint Joseph Emergency entrance. The Kingsway lies to the north east, a parking area to the east, and residential blocks to the west.
