The Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy is located within the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area in Metairie, Louisiana. Less than a mile north of the Mississippi River and only two miles south of Interstate 10, the development's site was a greyfield, formerly the site of a middle school.
McKnight Landscape Architects provided the design vision, which is inspired by merging the health and science-based curriculum into one powerful expression: an environmentally sensitive garden courtyard featuring forms based on the abstraction of planetary orbits and proportions.

Through creative design, children are immersed in a learning environment that emphasizes health, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while teaching concepts such as water conservation, stormwater management, and gardening as part of a forward-thinking curriculum.

Background
Located four miles west of downtown New Orleans, the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (Discovery Academy) is named after Dr. Ochsner, a pioneer in the development of modern open-heart surgery. During his career, he grew the heart transplant program at Ochsner Hospital to be one of the largest and most respected in the country.

Discovery Academy is a partnership between Ochsner, Louisiana's largest non-profit academic health care system, and Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy, a local charter school. The collaboration provides an alternative to the Jefferson Parish C-rated public school system.

The pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school is designed to promote STEM education to prepare students for college and the workforce.
The Chef Emeril Lagasse Foundation joined the partnership as part of their efforts to implement a national ground to plate education initiative. In the spring of 2021, Discovery Academy was awarded a $500,000 grant to build and operate a culinary garden and teaching kitchen. The program integrates gardening and cooking concepts into school curriculums, creating an interactive, food-centered learning environment.

"We are inspiring kids to learn through food and giving them the resources, tools, and knowledge to do so," Lagasse states. "There is so much need to reach kids outside of the traditional classroom. Preparing a meal, understanding where it comes from and sharing it with others is an experience that grounds and connects us all."

Context Discovery Academy is located in the neighborhood of Shrewsbury, within a contextual confluence of residential, industrial, and parkland areas. It serves as a bridge, and in some respects, a buffer between the three zones. The site was chosen for its proximity to existing infrastructure, Ochsner Medical Center, and to surrounding mature neighborhoods.

Role of the Landscape Architect
As the project progressed and new possibilities were articulated, McKnight Landscape Architects grew into an integral role within the design team. In addition to the exterior space's concepts, spatial arrangements, and construction documents, their scope included paving design, grading, pipe routing, planting design, and irrigation.

 

The plans for what is now considered the heart of the school, the interior garden-courtyard, were inspired by the abstraction of planetary orbits and proportions, and featured the future Emeril Lagasse Culinary Garden, accessible and exploratory multi-level play areas, a rain garden, and a large cistern that collects roof water for garden irrigation.

Although planets and their orbital patterns are a bold organizing framework for spaces, in reality, the concept is subtle with most planets represented as understated material changes in the pavement or turf berms. The most conspicuous feature representing this concept is the circular Emeril Lagasse Culinary Garden, the showpiece of the courtyard representing the sun. As children plant herbs, fruits, and vegetables, it becomes a teaching garden that provides lessons about soils, organic fertilizers, plants, photosynthesis, the hydrologic cycle, stormwater management, and the benefits of pollinators.

Because of the semi-tropical environment of New Orleans, a fruit tree grove complements the culinary garden.

The courtyard is adaptable and flexible. While some spaces resemble a shaded outdoor library for quiet reflection, others are more active and encourage exercise and imaginative play. Outdoor areas are also arranged based on their related interior counterparts and associated age groups. An earth berm situated next to the science laboratory doubles as an outdoor classroom and nearby small berms create a dynamic three-dimensional play space.
Nearby, a 'crab trap' themed playground relates to the local seafood and trapping industries. Although themed, the structure is understated and colors are linked to the architectural palette. The basketball court is located away from the garden areas primarily for upper middle school children. On the opposite side of the courtyard, a smaller play structure and a tricycle path is near the kindergarten classrooms.

"The courtyard provides so many play and developmental opportunities for our students," remarks Patty Glaser, Ph.D., head of school environmental. "One of our 2nd graders described it as, 'big and fun for hard core skills.' That says it all!"

Sustainability
Positioned within a gulf-coastal temperate environment with an increasing intensity of rainfall, stormwater management is at the forefront of new developments in New Orleans. Because of this, the water cycle is an important narrative throughout the landscape. At Discovery Academy, children experience rooftop rain water collection, rain water storage within the cistern, and reuse of graywater within the culinary garden. The cycle is tangible and discernable from the initial stages of water collection, to plant irrigation, to plant growth, and to the final stage of leaf, vegetable, and fruit harvest.

This process is articulated through creative design and is integrated as part of their curriculum. Children learn that water can be conserved and reused rather than being hard-piped to the detriment of surrounding watersheds.

The rain garden is an additional layer illustrating the water cycle. Rainwater is collected from the roof (by cistern overflow) and from the surrounding courtyard. The rain garden has a 425 cubic-foot capacity which allows rainwater to slowly percolate and recharge groundwater.

Materials
Plant materials for different areas were selected for multiple purposes. The outer-fa????ades are inviting for the surrounding community and are lush and durable. Shade trees are important for parking areas and for sidewalks.
Within the interior courtyard, a mix of natives and locally adapted non-natives were selected to support the environmental part of the school's mission. Natives such as iris, the Louisiana state wildflower, gulf muhly grass, itea, and yaupon holly connect the planting to place. Non-native additions are buddleia to encourage pollinators and sedum as a heat-tolerant ground cover.

Rock material was selected for their durability and their value to play. Although rock is not a native material to New Orleans, the designer selected it for the rain garden to create a whimsical landscape that encourages exploration, climbing, and imagination. Large boulders are arranged along the swale rim and invite children to hop from one to the next, to sit and read a book, or to daydream.

Concrete is selected for most paved surfaces because it is the most cost-effective and ubiquitous paving material of south Louisiana. Although non-porous, concrete areas slope or are piped to the rain garden for infiltration.

The culinary garden is raised for universal accessibility and is built of large wooden posts arranged vertically. For maintenance considerations, the garden paths are made of concrete pavers set in compacted yet porous limestone rock. Although limestone is not a local material, it is readily available for construction industries and is often transported on nearby Mississippi River barges.

Collaboration
Though McKnight Landscape Architects was the primary designer for the exterior spaces, much coordination with the architect, civil engineer, and owner was allotted to create the final outcome.

The landscape architect's compassion towards environmental sustainability, thoughtful material selections, and most importantly, a meaningful design vision gives students an immersive, participatory, and educational environment in which to learn.

Team List
Landscape Architect - McKnight Landscape Architects
Project Manager - Wesley Wilkerson, PLA, ASLA
Architect - Grace Hebert Curtis Architects, APAC
Structural/Civil - Schrenk, Endom & Flanagan, LLC.
MEP - YKMH Consulting, LLC
General Contractor - Gibbs Construction
Landscape Contractor - Twin Shores Landscape and Construction Services Inc.