On Wednesday, UMass Memorial Medical Center held a ribbon-cutting for a unique amenity at the North Pavilion building: a healing garden. The garden activates a wooded area adjacent to a natural stream to create a tranquil space where inpatients and visitors can enjoy nature.
VHB performed permitting and site design for the healing garden, as well as for the larger North Pavilion project, which renovated a nursing home into an inpatient tower to address the severe shortage of inpatient beds in Central Massachusetts.
“The North Pavilion project has been a rewarding opportunity to leverage existing assets to solve a critical need for medical care in the region,” says project manager Derek Masionis. “The healing garden improves patient and visitor experience by providing an outdoor, nature-based space for well-being and recovery.”
Our designs for the healing garden respect the natural resources, incorporating a pedestrian bridge crossing over the stream to create a fully accessible space for respite from the hospital in the peaceful outdoors. VHB partnered with architect Perkins&Will and landscape architect Studio 2112 for the project.
