A Home (Away from Home) Osbourne Park Hospital Healing Garden

Designing a healing garden for Osborne Park Hospital

At Osborne Park Hospital, the story of the Ward 3 Healing Garden can be traced back to a nurse who tended the hospital gardens before and after shifts. Recognition of that simple contribution prompted a broader question: what role could underused outdoor spaces play in supporting the wellbeing of patients, families and staff?

From there, a partnership developed between North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) and the University of Western Australia (UWA), bringing students, clinicians, facilities staff, patients, design and sustainability specialists together to explore how hospital courtyards could become places of restoration, connection and climate resilience.

For landscape architecture student Yolanda Trigger, the project was immediately different from a conventional university assignment.

“It added a whole other dimension to the usual assignment process. It was immediately engaging and real.”

Yolanda’s proposal for the Ward 3 courtyard, A Home (Away from Home), received both the People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice awards.  At its heart was a simple idea: a hospital garden should offer the comfort and familiarity of being ‘at home’.

From student concept to built landscape

For someone at the beginning of a landscape architecture career, the opportunity has been significant.

“Design ultimately is about making, and making for a reason. Seeing this come to fruition to be used by those who it was designed for is very gratifying.”

Following the studio, Yolanda joined REALM for a professional placement, where she has been able to take A Home (Away from Home) from a student concept into construction-level landscape design.

Design that heals

Yolanda imagined a place that could support patients during lengthy hospital stays, families navigating difficult periods, and staff seeking respite from work that can be intellectually, physically and emotionally demanding.

Wide, curving paths create a level and accessible journey through the courtyard, accommodating wheelchairs, walkers and hospital beds. A clearly legible layout assists people experiencing perception difficulties, allowing them to move through the garden while staying safe.

The design also recognises that many patients will experience the garden from inside. Existing windows are opened to sunlight and views, extending the landscape into patient rooms even when someone cannot physically enter the courtyard. Bold artwork will remain legible for people with reduced visual acuity, while pavement mosaics can be discovered by people whose gaze is directed downward when using a wheelchair or walker.

The healing power of art

Led by artists Mel McPhee and Alexa Lederman, residents and staff were engaged in community driven artmaking workshops where they co-created colourful murals and mosaics, based on native and endemic flora and fauna. For residents to take part in the physical act of creating artwork adds additional layers of meaning and connection to the healing garden.

Sustainability and wellbeing

Sustainability is embedded throughout the design.

Existing paving and the courtyard’s pergola structure are retained and reused where possible, reducing demolition waste, embodied carbon and unnecessary cost. Planting follows Water Corporation Waterwise principles and incorporates low-allergy species appropriate to the hospital environment. New trees increase canopy and provide shade while cooling the courtyard through evapotranspiration. Native species provide seasonal change and habitat for birds, insects and pollinators, allowing a garden designed around human wellbeing to simultaneously support biodiversity.

Climate positive design solutions include raingardens that redirect water from downpipes into planted areas rather than immediately sending it into the stormwater system. This contributes to a cooler, greener and more biodiverse hospital environment while supporting broader NMHS sustainability objectives and State Government urban tree canopy targets.

Measuring what a garden can do

The project is also being used as an opportunity to build evidence around the value of healing landscapes.

A pre-construction student placement has established baseline measures, with future placements planned following construction to assess the garden’s social, environmental and financial benefits. The findings can help inform future healing gardens and green infrastructure projects across hospital environments.

The goal is that the completed courtyard will be somewhere people want to spend time: a garden that surprises and delights, draws people outside and gives them a reason to return.

A place that offers “some comfort and solace during difficult times.”