By Brad Smith, PLA, ASLA, AICP

When I launched my practice, we were essentially filling the role of Site Cosmetician:  Shrub it up and make it look good.  Oftentimes, we would see missed opportunities in the approved site plan, but unfortunately, that was not our purview at the time.  There’s nothing wrong with the pursuit of beauty.  In fact, beauty – whether in art, architecture, or the landscape – can stir the emotions.  Sheldon Vanauken, said it well in his book A Severe Mercy, “That nameless something that had stopped his heart was Beauty . . . He was suddenly overwhelmed with the revelation that what makes life worth living is, precisely, the emotions.”

The notion that design can affect people is significant.  It’s a rung in the ladder that urges us on to something greater; something more.  It’s interesting to look back and see the progression in our work as exterior design specialists from merely doing planting design to being so fortunate as to engage in multi-disciplinary collaboration to create places that actually do enhance well-being for people. 

Much of our work is in the planning and design of senior living environments.  As people progress in the aging process, their interactions with nature change.  But their intrinsic need for connection with nature remains.  Biophilic design – connecting people and the built environment to nature – is becoming mainstream, and that is indeed exciting!

Anne DiNardo, Executive Editor for Healthcare Design Magazine, summarizes trends and themes from the 2019 Healthcare Design Showcase winners.  I was pleased to see how the designs responded to the lifestyles of those for whom the spaces were built.  The wooded site at the Anna Shaw Children’s Institute inspired a treehouse themed concept.  I’m sure it would resonate with kids who were staying there.  The same approach holds true for seniors:  Active adults will want a set of site amenities like pools, walking trails, bocce ball, pickle ball, remote-controlled airplanes and yachts, etc. Those in an Assisted Living venue will still engage with nature, but it will be in a much more passive manner – enjoying views of butterflies and birds and perhaps sitting outdoors in a therapeutic garden setting that highlights each of the 5 senses.  Memory Care settings are unique in that although these residents may struggle with short-term memory retention, they are still “there”.  They may still retain long-term memories that can be jogged by introducing familiar objects from their past.  For them, the challenge is to transform the outdoor spaces, which must be secured in order to prevent elopement, into comfortable, familiar settings that serve as their back yard.  I often cringe when I see sterile outdoor courtyards that are quite attractive, but look as though they were designed to appear in the glossies, rather than being home to a particular population.  And, they inevitably are altogether devoid of people.

Another promising trend noted in the 2019 HCD Showcase was the preponderance of biophilic design, in response to an ever-widening body of research pointing to the benefits of nature in the healing process.  A big trend we’re seeing is that of caring for the caregivers.  Providing respite gardens for staff can have a positive impact:

• Stress reduction

• Better mental performance

• Elevated disposition and resourcefulness

• Increased productivity

• Staff retention

There are so many opportunities to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor environments.  The prospect of landscape architects and interior designers collaborating to bring the outdoors inside of the building, and to extend indoor spaces outside into places for enjoying outdoor living is indeed a welcomed new development.  Getting out of our respective silos allows us to create better places for people.

In their groundbreaking book, Natural Capitalism, the Hawkins, Lovins and Lovins astutely state that “ . . .design is really just applied foresight.  It’s what you do now carefully and responsively to achieve what you want later.”  In healthcare, that target is assisting in the healing process.  In senior living, it is addressing the aging process in such a way as to extend the quality of life.  Anne DiNardo’s article ends with an urging to press-on.  One commentator noted the fact that design for respite and design for wellness were both under-represented in this year’s field.  That’s unfortunate, particularly considering the emergence of the WELL-Building Standard, focused on planning and designing both buildings and communities that help people to thrive.  So yes, let’s continue in the pursuit of excellence, because there is more to be accomplished, there are better outcomes that will enhance the lives of people – continue, as Jewel the Unicorn urges in C.S. Lewis’s classic The Last Battle from The Chronicles of Narnia “Come Further Up, Come Further In!”

Brad is an exterior planning and design specialist, Founder of PlaceCreation, a group of landscape architects and planners focused on enhancing well-being through the timeless design of sustainable outdoor spaces.