An award-winning new outdoor space in Ohio focuses on the autistic experience.

By Maci Nelson, Associate ASLA

In early 2020, Toronto-based Virginia Burt, FASLA, received a cold call and invitation to meet for pizza and discuss a garden project in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The garden would honor the memory of the family’s child, Morgan, whose favorite hobby was gardening, and who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The proposed garden would replace the existing courtyard at the Monarch Center for Autism and its Lifeworks Program, which cared for Morgan, and provides prevocational training and support for people with autism who experience severe emotional, physical, and social challenges.

The result, which opened in 2021 and won a 2022 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence, is more than a green space with therapeutic qualities. Morgan’s Garden centers the autistic experience, demonstrating neurodivergent accommodation in a landscape and supporting all users, including staff, clients, and families.

To better understand the needs of individuals with ASD in outdoor spaces, the team applied for and received a research grant from the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation to conduct a literature review on the subject. People with autism experience and process the world differently, and their needs are not often represented in or supported by outdoor spaces. The way they interact with space varies, but some common traits include (but are not limited to) restricted mobility, hand flapping, toe walking, spinning, and other repetitive physical routines. People with the condition can also have difficulty making transitions between spaces and activities.

And yet, while generalized healing design principles found through research are useful, Burt says they inadequately address site- and user-specific needs. Emily Thorpe, a research assistant and designer at Virginia Burt Designs, says that despite learning from the literature and other successful projects, nothing quite matched the unique needs of the school. “A key component in the design process was a facilitated meeting with the Monarch Lifeworks staff and caregivers of those with ASD,” Thorpe says.

The final design comprises both a garden and a “farm.” The farm is a renovated kitchen and gated patio for horticultural therapy and vocational training. The remainder of the garden features a circular lawn ringed with eastern redbud trees and looping paths leading to seating areas, swings, and classrooms. The spaces are separated with low-growing plants selected for their sensory qualities, such as their aromas and textural variety. The plants also leave clear sight lines from every angle within the garden so staff can easily supervise activities. Burt emphasizes that the simplicity of the circle form was necessary to be understood by people regardless of their ability. “I can see it, I can understand it, and I want to be in it,” she says. Carl Brass, the executive director of the Lifeworks Program, describes the circle as the “core,” a coherent starting point for all users to diverge from and return to at their discretion and comfort.

The staff had concerns about the level of disruption that construction would cause. “Too much at once is not good,” Brass says. “What you try and do [with the individuals], frequently, is build in the routine and then provide exposure to something new through the right preparation.” To avoid disruptions, installation primarily occurred after hours. To everyone’s surprise, the approach worked, and there was no noticeable impact of construction on residents. “The team took great care to put empathy first,” Burt says.