EVERGLADES RESTORATION FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH
client: Miami-Dade Health Trust scope: Architecture and Site Design role: Site Design Lead for Perkins+Will
overview
Reclaiming a 28 acre brownfield site, the new Jackson West Hospital will provide general healthcare services in the rapidly urbanizing western portion of Miami Dade County. As a regional Critical Facility, the campus must be designed for accessiblity during extreme weather events. This posed particular challenges for the flood-prone area. In addition, the owners (Miami Dade Health Trust) were required to rebuild a range of Florida Everglades habitats speified by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
design approach
Sitting at the western edge of Miami’s urban transect, we saw the campus as an opportunity to create a bridge between the advanced medical infrastructure of the contemporary city and the historic natural landscape of the Everglades. The site was divided into distinct ecological zones meeting strict habitat restoration requirements while also offering a diversity of views and accessible natural areas for the benefit of the hospital and surrounding community.
research and environmental healing
The design team partnered with ecologists and resilience experts from Yale and Florida International University to develop a restoration proposal which had the highest probability of long-term success. While meeting the aesthetic needs of the campus use, the restoration was designed to facilitate future academic research in the field of restoration ecology, echoing the hospitals long standing commitment to combining research and healing.
Sitting at the western edge of Miami’s urban transect, we saw the campus as an opportunity to create a bridge between the advanced medical infrastructure of the contemporary city and the historic natural landscape of the Everglades. The site was divided into distinct ecological zones meeting strict habitat restoration requirements while also offering a diversity of views and accessible natural areas for the benefit of the hospital and surrounding community.
research and environmental healing
The design team partnered with ecologists and resilience experts from Yale and Florida International University to develop a restoration proposal which had the highest probability of long-term success. While meeting the aesthetic needs of the campus use, the restoration was designed to facilitate future academic research in the field of restoration ecology, echoing the hospitals long standing commitment to combining research and healing.
