Landscape architecture students get real-world experience

Dale Maronek, head, department of horticulture and landscape architecture at OSU, said this was a great opportunity for the students to use the skills they have learned in their classes.

“It’s always a great opportunity for our students to be able to work on real projects such as this one,” Maronek said. “The experiences they gain from designing the project and working with the client will be beneficial to them later on in their careers.”

The students in Associate Professor Paul Hsu’s Landscape Architecture Design Studio II class visited the site in Oklahoma City prior to developing their designs and completed a comprehensive site analysis.

“The Integris Foundation gave us the philosophy of Hospice House and then I developed general design guidelines for the students to follow,” Hsu said.

Barbara Larson, administrative director of the Integris Baptist Medical Foundation, said the 10.5 acres of land for the project was donated by Jim Wallace.

“It was Jim’s idea to contact OSU to see if students could work on this project,” Larson said. “The guidelines for the project were compatible to the hospice mission. In addition, we wanted the students to pay particular attention to the ‘pillow view’ from each of the 12 rooms. The view the patients have from their beds is critically important to the landscape design. We wanted the view to be a visual experience for the patients.”

She indicated the goals in selecting the winning designs included compatibility with the architecture of the building, which is English Tudor; compatibility with the Oklahoma landscape; and relatively easy maintenance that is not time consuming or expensive.

The designs also included elements such as therapeutic garden spaces, common gathering spaces, rock gardens, sitting areas, children’s play area, water gardens, shade garden, sun protection, privacy screening and meditation areas.

The top three designs were chosen and the winning teams received cash awards. First place and a shared $500 cash prize went to Gwen Kragenbrink, Edmond, and Brendan Schmidt, Fairview. Second place and a shared $300 cash award went to Jessica Moore, Fairfax, and Robert Conrad, Tahlequah. Jill Baumgartner, Omaha, Neb., and Robert Perry, Waukomis, took third place and a shared $200 cash prize.

“We thoroughly enjoyed working with the students on this project,” Larson said. “We’re getting ready to launch a capital campaign and the construction will begin once the money is raised. We hope to start building by summer 2009 and we will most likely incorporate some elements from the second and third place designs into that of the first place design.”

Helen Southerland, marketing representative for Hospice of Oklahoma County, Inc., said this project has been a dream for a long time.

“Our patients and their families have been asking for a facility such as what we’re planning to build,” Southerland said. “It’s so fun to see our dreams on paper.”

Warren Edwards, an adjunct professor at OSU, said students in his Planting Design 4034 course have taken the first place design and are working on the actual plant designs for the project.

“This is a parallel course with the landscape design class,” Edwards said. “The first part of the project was to design the landscape, and this second part will be figuring out exactly what plants, trees, shrubs and other elements will be used.”

In addition to the landscape design itself, students also had to consider the parking lot, entry driveway and pedestrian walkways.

“The Integris Baptist Medical Foundation and Mr. Wallace are to be commended for affording our students an opportunity to create a design that can help patients and family members during a period of critical need,” Maronek said.

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