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Group of Seven Has Grounds for Design
Landscape architecture students redesign President's House grounds as part of third-year course
BY ANDREW VOWLES
A modern-day “group of seven” has designs on the President's House. Seven landscape architecture students are redesigning the grounds of the 1882 stone cottage that has housed a succession of presidents at Guelph.
They took on the real-life project for their third-year design course run by Prof. Nate Perkins, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD).
Besides helping to set off a “hidden gem” on campus and to provide a more suitable setting for University functions, the project has become an unprecedented learning experience for the students, says Perkins. “It's an opportunity to display student and faculty work.”
President Alastair Summerlee and his wife, Catherine, suggested the project and plan to look for a donor who might be interested in the design as a legacy gift. When he became president in 2003, the couple chose to remain in their own home. The President's House is now used for University functions and events.
“It's not just a residential redesign,” says Prof. Maurice Nelischer, SEDRD associate director. Pointing to everything from the tall conifers that partly obscure the property to the lack of a clearly defined entryway, he says: “Everything about the house says it could be a gem on campus, but the landscaping is keeping it out of people's eyes.”
Perkins contrasts the property with the more formal clipped-hedges look of presidential houses he saw while studying in Illinois and Wisconsin. He says it's important that the grounds provide an appropriate backdrop and venue for U of G gatherings, including dinner meetings for 12 people or events for up to 100, often involving dignitaries of all stripes.
His students met with the Summerlees last fall to discuss ideas and principles. By late January, the students had submitted an initial vision statement and themes for the project, including six main elements:
- defining the relationship between the house and its surroundings;
- creating an open, visually appealing garden;
- showcasing U of G talents;
- creating varied spaces for social functions;
- improving access; and
- creating flexible phasing and maintenance plans.
The students will develop a landscape design plan for possible future installation. All are in the third year of their BLA degree.
“It's an exciting project because we have real clients and a site to interact with, which creates more of a realistic experience to prepare and educate us,” says student Lee Morrison. “It gives us the opportunity to contribute to beautifying the campus. It's also a wonderful and significant project for us and our future careers. Not everyone has the chance to work with the president of the University and design a landscape.”
U of G groundskeepers maintain the landscaping around the President's House. No site plan has ever been developed for the property, occupying about four acres at the north end of campus. Any landscape design for the site will be integrated with the campus master plan.
The stone cottage was originally built where Creelman Hall now stands. It was included in the plan developed in 1882 for the Ontario Agricultural College and Experimental Farm.
Nelischer emphasizes that the project is not intended as a historical restoration.
“It has to represent the future,” he says, explaining that the project is meant to convey contemporary values, from environmental sensitivity to quality design.