Boston Children’s Hospital: LAF Post-Occupancy Case Study Investigation (Part 2)
September, 2025
Through the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Post-Occupancy Case Study Investigation, this investigation focuses on Boston Children’s Hospital’s healing gardens.
Working closely with Researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD); Gareth Doherty, Anne Tong, Garett Craig-Lucas, and Shan He; the impact of the social, emotional, and environmental ecologies of BCH was assessed. Over a six-month period, the research team conducted both descriptive and prescriptive fieldwork to assess acoustical, thermal, and therapeutic comfort across the network of healing gardens. This assessment involved multiple methods, including surveys, interviews, staff shadowing, site observations, and environmental measurements. Among several notable findings, the research team discovered that the nestled garden nooks offer users personalized, therapeutic spaces, providing cooler zones or quieter areas for retreat. The collective network of healing gardens delivers a more varied climate experience, offering both warmer and cooler microclimates throughout the campus. Beyond thermal comfort, the landscape design also creates opportunities for different types of programming, offering larger spaces for gathering and events as well as quieter pockets for users seeking refuge from the livelier activity elsewhere in the gardens.
Honoring the longstanding importance of accessible green spaces at BCH, the new design provides immersive healing and recreational experiences across eight gardens. Designed to support health and neuro-inclusivity, the project was guided by evidence-based design principles that recognizes the environment’s vital role in improving mental health and physical healing. In addition, these spaces aim to enhance urban biodiversity while offering a range of comfortable and restorative environments for all who use them.
New origami-inspired animal sculptures complementary to the historic BCH sculptures add a familiar and playful touch to the hospital’s healing environment. To explore storytelling and place, the research team created a coloring book with sculptures and poetic clues drawn from interviews.
Thank you to the Landscape Architecture Foundation for supporting this investigation and Harvard GSD for captaining this effort! We invite you to take a look at the published methods document by the LAF here:
Read more about how the design of our Hale healing gardens address the full range of emotional, cognitive, and sensory experiences in The Architect’s Newspaper, link here:
https://www.archpaper.com/2023/12/mikyoung-kim-designs-boston-childrens-hospital/
