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Designer, activist, academic,
and author of Lo—TEK,
Design by Radical Indigenism.
A leading expert of Lo—TEK nature-based technologies for climate-resilience.
Her eponymously named studio brings creative and conceptual, interdisciplinary thinking to urban projects and corporate clients interested in systemic and sustainable change. Julia regularly teaches urban design at Harvard and Columbia University.
Salem Rehabilitation Courtyards
Advinacare Elderly Care Facility
Date: 2020
Location: Salem, MA
Project Team: Watson Salembier + Micky Klein Assoc + Jaca Architects
Client: Rockpoint Development Group
Watson Salembier designed the rehabilitation courtyard for the Advinacare Elderly Care Facility at Salem, using a rewilding approach by introducing native vegetation, amplifying existing site conditions, and incorporating a sustainable and safe material palette for the residents.
Inspired by the dramatic rock wall which flanks the entire eastern boundary of the courtyard, a cascade and pool were introduced to create a strikingly different experience from day to night and season to season. A covered entrance walkway from the car park transitions to a series of open decks for short ventures into the garden from the main entrance. Continuing through the courtyard a series of rooms are created, with a circular canopy courtyard facing the pool and cascade, an activity walk that introduces a small incline, seating spaces around an outdoor fire pit to extend the use of the garden into the cooler months and mailboxes to practice daily activities, a bridge over the pool, a putting green amongst the long grasses, and a car to assist with rehabilitation activities. Set within a co-ordinated and contemporary feeling design, the space becomes the central feature of the facility upgrade.
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