Riverland Community College, Scholars' Walk Study Garden
Austin, MinnesotaAfter Riverland Community College merged with an adjacent vocational-technical institute, HGA was commissioned by the College to develop a masterplan that would create a single campus for the two facilities. Part of that effort involved design of a grand connecting walkway referred to as Scholars' Walk. This formal, tree-lined walkway more easily allowed students and staff to walk between the two facilities as quickly and pleasantly as possible. The walkway itself is 11.5 feet wide and 1,000 feet long patterned with scoring and exposed aggregate. A double row of Littleleaf Linden trees together with pedestrian pole lights borders the north side of the walkway. On the south side of the walkway is a large central lawn where students engage in active informal sports or perhaps games of frisbee. Since the campus had no outdoor gathering places for students, two study gardens were placed along Scholars' walk. These two gardens, side-by-side, are shaded with a pair of beautiful painted-metal trellises. These trellises and light fixtures are painted to match the trellis-like structural roof supports of the atria of each building (i.e. at each end of the walkway). Beneath each trellis are benches surrounding a large limestone "table." Plantings and accent lighting complement the spaces. Students often gather in these two gardens to relax, talk or just watch others engaged in the affairs of student life.