University of California-Davis Medical Center, The M.I.N.D. Institute Founder's Garden
Sacramento, CaliforniaSince 1998, the M.I.N.D. Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) has been in operation as part of the UC Davis Health System. HGA designed the M.I.N.D.campus including three buildings, two major courtyards and a very important garden referred to as Founder's Garden. The Institute was founded by five families all of whom have child with autism. Founder's Garden was designed to commemorate these five families in a subtle manner that would add beauty and meaning to the grounds of the campus. The garden consists of three large coast live oak trees (transplanted as a group), with a unique limestone wall and several limestone boulders. The three transplanted oaks, which average 30-inch trunk diameter, suggest strength and stability. With their massive limbs and arching branches, they form an interesting space beneath which are carefully placed 26 limestone boulders of various sizes. The boulders are set in a radiating pattern of decomposed granite surfacing that gives each stone an "aura," so to speak, expressed on the ground plane. The limestone wall is 34 feet long, 5 feet high and is built of solid stone. At one end of the wall is a dramatic fissure running vertically from the ground that both separates the wall and expresses the idea of relationship between two parts. This fissure is dramatically illuminated at night in the context of the oak trees and related boulders. Founder's garden is a simple expression, contemplative in nature, symbolic and beautiful. It will endure and continue grow in significance to mark this special place on the campus.