Ellen S. Clark Memorial Hope Plaza
St. Louis, MO | 2010 | 2.2 acres
On this busy urban medical campus, the plaza, offers respite to staff and patients – whether passing through, sitting quietly or viewing from above. Designed by Maya Lin in association with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the plaza is organized around a serene “infinity pool” with a disappearing edge nearly 80 feet in diameter. A raised platform, 38 feet in diameter, provides visitors a vantage point to view the landscape.
Lighting is integrated into Maya Lin’s artwork and the design uses fiber-optic lights embedded in the platform to reflect the constellations in the night sky above. Landscape lighting is dark-sky friendly and carefully calibrated to ease the transition from the urban context to the meditative plaza. The design was awarded a Site Lighting Credit, which contributed to the project’s LEED certification.
