Drawing inspiration from the surrounding landscape
Carnelian granite boulders in their natural state created an inviting new entrance for Brookings Hospital, which was influenced by the glacial movement across the Great Plains thousands of years ago
A growing patient base drove officials to put an expansion plan in place for Brookings Hospital in Brookings, SD. The project consisted of a hospital addition and a new two-story medical office building. Among the objectives was to design an appealing entrance to make visitors feel welcome. From a site perspective this was achieved with a series of entry gardens featuring large outcropping boulders of local Carnelian granite – arranged it a way to mimic glacial movement, creating a striking landscape design.
“Brookings Hospital, like most rural city-owned hospitals built during the 1960s, was primarily intended to provide inpatient care,” explained Emanouil Spassov, ASLA, PLA, SITES AP, LEED AP BD+C, a landscape architect at HGA in Minneapolis, MN. “As healthcare trends have shifted over the years to service outpatients, Brookings Health System faced the need to expand and renovate its facility in order to respond to Brookings growing community needs. The overall project goal of HGA design team, with lead design architect Dan Polachek, AIA, RA, CID, was to create a modern facility that promotes and reflects the high-quality, compassionate and personalized care Brookings Hospital team delivers to the local community.”