Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Mikyoung Kim Design brings a new vision for the role of healing gardens in urban healthcare environments, allowing patients and families to immerse themselves in the natural world.
The project has been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award and a 2020 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
As part of an ambitious Green Masterplan, this pediatric campus is focused on providing access to nature and the contemplative restorative experience.
Patients, families, and caregivers of this world-class pediatric research and clinical institution can experience seven uniquely tailored gardens within this vertical hospital.
Utilizing evidence-based design that demonstrates the importance of easily accessible green spaces, the plan strategically integrates these unique gardens within the campus to foster health and well-being.
The goal of this plan was to integrate healing gardens and human-centered design into every day of clinical experience.
The plan reimagines and enhances access, better accommodates user needs, creates habitat, and establishes a sense of playful and immersive experience throughout the hospital ground.
Above the fray of the street, panoramic views from the roof garden provide a sense of openness for those confined to the hospital grounds.
A variety of nooks and seating create an oasis with intimate spaces for socialization, rest, solace, and contemplation.
The Main 11 Healing Garden connects with regional assets such as the Roberchar Apiary, joining the network of urban gardens that are designed with horticulture to draw various birds, bees and other insects into the city.
The project integrates a wide range of contemplative and active programming. A central green with a mound that highlights views of downtown Boston offers families a place to play.
A series of private garden nooks are framed by ornamental grasses and all-season perennials, ensuring privacy for patients while accommodating space for hospital beds and wheelchairs.
The most private, intended for end-of-life patients and their families, can be completely closed off with a wood screen.
A post-occupancy study done through Cornell University in the summer of 2019 provided valuable information about the design and the user groups for the garden.
This mixed-methods study used the H-GET standards of evaluation with key stakeholders that include patients, families, staff, and caregivers.
The study showed that a diversity of users inhabited the garden, while the majority of staff users were full-time employees.
Each garden has a different character and diversity of plant material, emphasizing all-season interest and an integrated horticultural educational experience across the campus.
From its sanctuary spaces to active play areas, these gardens celebrate the proven healing capacities of connections to the natural world.
It puts forward a vision for a state-of-the-art care facility with green spaces that are tailored to the unique needs of today’s pediatric patients.
Based on the extensive clinical and psychological research that shows the positive impacts of easily accessible gardens on the mind and body, this urban plan integrates scientific evidence with an ambitious investment that weaves together landscape and architecture to heal our youngest and most vulnerable patients.
Project: Boston Children’s Hospital Longwood Rooftop Healing Garden
Architects: Mikyoung Kim Design
Design Team: Mikyoung Kim, Bryan Chou, and Ian Downing
Client: Boston Children’s Hospital
