Washington University Medical Center promotes a mission of hope, health and compassion. This message has taken root at the site in the form of the thousands of flowers, trees and decorative grasses that now grace the streetscape near its campus. According to Herb Schaal, FASLA, Principal and Vice President of EDAW, Inc. the lead Landscape Architect on the project, the new streetscape at the center was designed to reflect the holistic goals of this world-renowned institution and to provide compassionate treatment, health and hopefulness through outreach to the community. The result is an urban Eden that will eventually span all of the public areas of the 16-block campus, the parallel streetscape and the hospital?EUR??,,????'???s main entrance. "Our challenge was to develop a landscape that was equal to the medical center?EUR??,,????'???s mission," said Schaal. Prior to the landscape project, the medical center already claimed an inherently dynamic space in the central west end of St. Louis, Mo. Consisting of St. Louis Children?EUR??,,????'???s Hospital, Barnes Jewish Hospital and various offices, the medical center is one of the foremost health care institutions in the world and home to numerous Nobel prize winners in the field of medicine. Directly across the street is Forest Park, one of largest city parks in the country and site of the 1904 World?EUR??,,????'???s Fair, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Art Museum and countless picnic and play areas. The surrounding neighborhood boasts trendy stores, restaurants, bars and coffee houses and the entire area is just minutes from a major interstate. Investing in the Public The medical center is currently in the midst of a more than $500 million Campus Integration Project, the largest healthcare construction project to-date in the state of Missouri. The administrators knew that the extensive project would create major disruption and they wanted to send a user-friendly message to the community throughout the construction and beyond. "We suggested that the medical center invest in the public realm," said Gene Mackey of Mackey Mitchell Architects of St. Louis, who selected EDAW to develop the landscape concept. "We knew there was going to be a lot of physical change. Buildings were going to be demolished and built. The goal of the administrators was to bring consistency, clarity and continuity to the total medical center." The firm collaborated with EDAW, their "landscape interpreter," to execute the idea, said Mackey. The three primary goals for the project were to create an encompassing environment that conveyed a sense of destination; to unify the campus through a consistent streetscape; and to make the campus more user friendly. The medical center?EUR??,,????'???s vision of hope, health and compassion was an integral part of the project at all levels. To meet these goals, a team of designers, architects, graphics consultants, lighting consultants, civil engineers and traffic consultants, developed three distinct areas within the overall project: the Kingshighway median; an expanded streetscape; and the pedestrian right-of-way. Compassion, Hope and Health The concept of compassion was expressed by focusing on architectural details and pedestrian amenities. Thoughtful and artful detailing on street designs, curb cuts, flower pots and benches were meant to touch people on an emotional level. Brightly colored banners waving from street lights celebrate life and the compassion of those who work within the medical center, comforting, treating and healing patients. Maintaining a sense of hope during an illness or illness of a loved one can be an incredible challenge. The design team needed to be sensitive to the task of offering hope to those who need it most through the more delicate and subtle aspects of the project. "The detailing including the flower petal stone patterns on the curb cuts, the large architectural pots, the benches and waste baskets all relate to a concern for people," explained Schaal. The same theme is repeated in the arching lines of a bouquet of daffodils, used as a graphic logo element on planters. The curved lines of the flowers and leaves are repeated in the graceful, upward-arching street lights, which hold 5-foot diameter planting baskets filled with masses of flowers. These subtle touches may not always be seen when driving by at 40 mph but, like hope, they are present. Of course, hope blooms with unrestrained zeal as winter melts into spring, and on summer mornings as flowers open to the sun. The concept of health sparkles in the exuberant mixed bouquets of the flowers that grow throughout the project. "We were careful to choose a distinct mix of plants that grow at various heights, colors, textures and shapes, creating a fresh, dynamic and vibrant environment rather than blocks of monocultures, " said Schaal. And no matter what the season, something is always thriving within the gardens. When the perennials die back in fall, ornamental grasses, shrubs and evergreens remain, a reflection of continuous healing taking place within the medical center itself. A New Focal Point Easily the most visible aspect of the entire project, the newly landscaped Kingshighway median helps blur the edges between the green of Forest Park and the gray world of concrete and brick in which the medical center sits, according to Schaal. Schaal interviewed hospital staff and surveyed the grounds for ideas, even searching for inspiration in the gift shop where he noted that most get-well cards feature bouquets of flowers. Inspired by this, he decided that the total landscape should be bouquet-like to uplift and delight patients, visitors and commuters who pass by the medical center on a daily basis. Trees, shrubs and turf form as the backbone of the median landscaping, but large beds of perennials surround the intersections and midpoints of the median. The perennial color palette consists of a large variety of vibrant flowers, including daisies, echinacea, daylilies, iris, sage, black-eyed susans, liriope and purple salvia. Daffodil and tulip bulbs add a seasonal spring splash. Procumbers junipers and decorative grasses such as feather reed grass and miscanthus ensure that the medians remain a subject of interest even during the fall and winter months after the flowers have faded. "I believe it is festive and colorful, and a very different look for St. Louis," said Anne Lewis of LEWISITES, St. Louis, the local Landscape Architect assisting EDAW on the project. "It?EUR??,,????'???s fun to look at the median from the hospital windows." In order to achieve and maintain the look they wanted, the medical center decided to employ their own full-time landscape crew to attend to the daily up-keep needs of the median plantings. "The hospital gets the credit for providing great maintenance because this kind of plant expression can be enormously compromised if it?EUR??,,????'???s not maintained well," said Lewis. The flowers, while striking in their own respect, are additionally accented by the pots and planters in which they bloom. EDAW designed custom-cast planters, pots and urns for use in the medians and throughout the entire project. The containers for this project were as carefully crafted as the plantings, according to Schaal. Anyone lucky enough to be stuck at a light along the median is treated to a view of the intricate and delicate etchings that decorate the various planters. Carved with intertwined daffodils that "bloom" yearlong, the planters were produced by Classic Garden Ornaments, Ltd. of Pomoma, Ill. "Through the plantings, there is a softening and beautification of the campus throughout the year," said Walter Davis, Washington University School of Medicine?EUR??,,????'???s assistant dean for facilities. "It is very inviting." Additional new lighting was installed along both sides of the street, again using decorative cast iron poles and fixtures carefully selected to reflect the design themes. Baskets attached to these light fixtures hang heavy with even more flowers to complete the look. Improving Pedestrian Presence "People tend to think only of the medians in this project because they?EUR??,,????'???re so visible, but really this was an expanded streetscape project," said Lewis. "We added enormous planting pots and drip-irrigated hanging baskets placed on new light fixtures. The project included considerable decorative pavements and additional in-ground plantings. We created a fresh new look." In addition to the decorative updates, extensive work was completed to improve the functionality of the entire area and achieve all of the project goals. "We added unique lighting, both pedestrian and street lighting so that when you drive down Kingshighway you know you?EUR??,,????'???re entering a district that is special," said Mackey. "You sense that. You see the landscaping. You see the lighting. You see the signage. That gives definition and clarity, and suggests that you have arrived at a medical campus." The decorative stone pavements are a continuation of the landscaping, with designs resembling large, white blooms. Live flowers sprout from numerous additional planters placed along the sidewalks and across the rest of the campus. The city of St. Louis provided funding to assist with repaving the street, and crumbling curbs were replaced to give the entire streetscape an overall clean and fresh look. "I think the design goes way beyond architecture and speaks to the larger environmental opportunity," said Mackey. "We pass along these streets every day. I think we need to pay more attention to street design." Achieving the Vision "This landscaping project is a public experience of arrival and departure and passage," said Mackey. "I don?EUR??,,????'???t think anyone in St. Louis had ever approached the public right-of-way quite so comprehensively." The landscape plan calls for streetscape design to be incorporated into any new buildings that the center adds in the future. Additionally, several neighboring facilities have agreed to extend the design onto their properties allowing for a truly large scale, consistent look. While the various elements of the medians, the streetscape and the pedestrian pathways can be divided into separate entities within the scope of the project, the renovation's ultimate success lies in the fact that all elements blend so well together. These elements all connect to the larger setting while also conveying the underlying philosophy of compassion, hope and health. "The objectives we set out were accomplished," said Davis of Washington University Medical Center. "The vision was established and we are getting wonderful feedback from the public about how happy they are with the project." Visitors can experience the incredible visual improvements that have taken place as a result of the project. There is no doubt in the minds of the team of designers and medical center staff that the finished project is a true testament to the center?EUR??,,????'???s mission of compassion, hope and health. About the Author: Mary Schanuel is president of Synergy Group, a marketing communications firm based in St. Louis, whose clients include EDAW, Inc.