Atlanta, Georgia
Client: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, DaVinci Development Collaborative, HKS Inc.
Size: 70 acres
Status: Completed 2024
Awards:
2025 Best in Real Estate: Healthcare, Atlanta Business Chronicle
2023 Merit Award, Georgia ASLA (Center for Advanced Pediatrics)
Collaborators: DaVinci Development Collaborative, HKS Inc, Brasfield & Gorrie
Park-like healthcare environment designed to promote healing and support staff, caregivers, and patients alike.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta partnered with HGOR as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop a comprehensive master plan for a new 70-acre pediatric healthcare campus designed to meet the region’s growing demand for care. The plan organizes clinical facilities, support buildings, and parking around more than 20 acres of gardens and greenspace, creating a park-like setting that supports healing and well-being. Grounded in research demonstrating the healing benefits of access to nature, the design integrates outdoor environments, views, and pedestrian pathways throughout the campus, ensuring patients, families, physicians, and staff remain connected to restorative landscapes while navigating a highly efficient medical environment.
Planning a Healing Environment
HGOR supported the development of the campus master plan, balancing clinical efficiency with the creation of a welcoming, human-centered environment. Research consistently shows that access to nature improves patient outcomes, including faster recovery times, reduced pain medication use, and shorter hospital stays, thus, the campus master plan responds directly to these findings by organizing buildings around gardens and open spaces that maximize natural light, outdoor views, and restorative environments for patients and families. The 70-acre site accommodates a major pediatric hospital, clinics, support facilities, and approximately 4,500 parking spaces while maintaining a strong landscape framework that prioritizes open space, views, and walkable connections across the campus.
A Park-Like Environment for Patients, Visitors, and Staff
More than 20 acres of greenspace are woven throughout the campus, providing gathering areas, planted landscapes, water features, and two miles of walking paths. These spaces offer opportunities for patients, visitors, physicians, and staff to recharge, socialize, and find moments of respite within the medical campus. Carefully framed views—including views of the Atlanta skyline—further reinforce the connection between the built environment and the surrounding landscape.
Environmental Performance & Landscape as Infrastructure
Beyond aesthetics, the landscape was designed to perform as a critical environmental system for the campus. Stormwater management strategies are integrated into the landscape to filter runoff, while planting strategies help mitigate urban heat island effects and increase biodiversity across the site. Additionally, HGOR helped identify and plan the removal of invasive species that had overtaken a watershed tributary on site. These efforts not only contribute to the long-term resilience and sustainability of the campus, but also create a positive impact on the broader ecosystem the site affects.
Phased Development & Campus Impact
The campus master plan was adopted by the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Board in 2017, initiating a multi-phase development process. Key milestones included the opening of the Center for Advanced Pediatrics in 2018, support office buildings in 2020, and the completion of the new hospital in 2024. Today, the campus represents one of the most advanced pediatric healthcare environments in the region, demonstrating how landscape-driven planning can support both clinical performance and human well-being.
