Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN

Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN

OLIN has created the site design for The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new patient care building in Baltimore, Maryland. The gardens, including the Entry Court Gardens, the Western Courtyard Gardens, the Phipps Courtyard and the Little Prince Garden, along with the soaring lobbies, a handpicked art collection and cheerful-light filled patient rooms are designed to provide a welcome and caring environment to advance the healing process. The $1.1billion building was dedicated on April 12, 2012.

Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN
Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN

The circulation pattern has several important elements. The Entry Court is designed to facilitate pedestrian safety as well as to provide ease of movement and clear views for anxious drivers. The new entrance will provide ample and efficient space for cars to drop off and pick up patients. All entrances to the hospital, including the new Adult and Pediatric Emergency Departments, are located in this area for easy patient access. Valet service will be available and parking is conveniently located across the streets in the Orleans Street Garage, which will be connected to the hospital by two pedestrian bridges. The rich and durable paving palette of bluestone, brick, quartzite and granite will provide visual continuity to the vehicular and garden spaces. This continuity helps to emphasize the patterns and colors of the paving and planting, which is also intended to be viewed from above by patients, visitors and staff.

Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN

The Western Courtyard Gardens, including the Entrance Garden, the Healing Garden and the Mediation Garden, each offer different experiences through varying forms, shapes, fragrances, colors and sounds. The unique auditory characteristics of the plantings in the Entrance Garden help mitigate the sound of local traffic, by utilizing plants such as Witch-hazels, who pop their flower casings in the fall or the Moneyplant and the Japanese Snowbell, whose dried fruits and loose leaves rattle against each other.

The Healing Garden is comprised of two distinct spaces, including a geometrically shaped area with a simple sloped lawn panel framed by a seating wall and plantings of shrub roses and Lambs’ ears. The other space is a more enclosed, secret garden with substantial seating, and includes a circular planting of flowering Crabapples. Rhododendrons, Spicebush and Oakleaf Hydrangeas are under-planted with Christmas Ferns, Hayscented Ferns and Black Snakeroot.

Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN
Within its clipped Hornbeam walls, the Meditation Garden is a refuge of quiet and calm. A fountain, a small paved terrace, a grove of Paper Bark Maples and a sculptural Japanese Maple provide a sense of scale, visual interest and a meditative mood.

Johns Hopkins Hospital | Baltimore USA | OLIN

The Phipps Courtyard is the exterior garden for the hospital café. Adjacent to this is the Little Prince Garden, an enclosed space for children. Based on the adventures of Saint-Exupery’s Little Prince, this garden features large and small asteroids, a few volcanoes, overhead stars and the “Birdgola,” a trellis like structure that has a colorful flock of birds suspended from maneuverable tracks. The plants in the Little Prince Garden were selected for their unusual characteristics, textures and colors such as Franklinia, Smoketree, Sunflowers, Shooting Stars and Roses.
IMAGES & TEXT: ©OLIN

About Damian Holmes 3245 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/