Children’s Hospital of Michigan

Giffels Webster has worked with the Detroit Medical Center on several projects in the last five years. In the fall of 2008, we began working on the surveying, engineering design, and landscape architecture for a new pediatric medical office building to be constructed across the street from the main Detroit Medical Center campus.

The entire project is targeting LEED Silver Certification, and sustainable design tenants are at its foundation. This development includes a healing garden and drought resistant landscape elements, combining the positive impacts of a patient-centered care approach with lower operational costs. The 400-vehicle parking lot was constructed with concrete and is configured to maximize landscape areas in order to combat the urban heat island effect. This parking lot was also constructed from a porous concrete section, significantly reducing the cost of storm sewer infrastructure while, more importantly, providing pretreatment and storage of the 100 year storm.

In addition to the site development, our landscape architects designed a healing garden targeted specifically toward children. This garden incorporates swirling patterns and decorative concrete that integrate with the adjacent planting areas. It also connects to the public sidewalk along St. Antoine Street, reinforcing the hospital’s mission of being a part of the community.