Forester Garden

The Forester Garden is a campus oasis that fulfilled the project goals of reconciling a series of disparate building entrances, supporting informal dining, and accommodating occasional events for gatherings of up to 100 attendees.

The Garden was built above a network of subterranean tunnels and utility lines. Brick and limestone were used to integrate the Garden with the buildings that frame it on three sides. Curvilinear limestone seat walls define walks around the perimeter and frame a flexible oval space in the center while separating the Garden from the adjacent driveway. A custom arbor designed by SA provides a new identity to a previously placeless setting, and its seasonally removeable fabric provides shade for the amphitheater seating.

Shadley Associates integrated state of the art security systems into the fully reconstructed historic Olmsted Gates, carefully designing the new pedestrian entrance to seamlessly blend with the meticulously restored piers and fencing.

The Forester Garden has been very popular since its completion in 2020. Shadley Associates is currently working on further expansion of the campus open space system through projects such as the forthcoming Garneau Plaza. This plaza will transform an adjacent parking lot into a landscaped workspace with several conditioned meeting pavilions, effectively adding 19,000 sf. of outdoor office space to the campus.  Beyond the plaza, the 4-acre White Mills Meadow, which is a large outdoor wellness, recreation, and meeting space within a passive park, features wetlands, meadows, native shade tree and understory groves, and a tensile fabric shade structure.