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Cancer Center Garden
In one of the most consumer-friendly hospitals in the nation, St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, there is a secluded courtyard garden devoted to recovering cancer patients.
An oasis of relief, the Cancer Center Garden provides respite to the mind, body and spirit through the careful blending of tangible and figurative elements. This collaborative project is one of three recent gardens donated to St. Mary Medical Center by the Community League and its supporters. The Cancer Center Garden was designed by Jurgita Tamutyte of Carter van Dyke Assoc. and includes a hand-carved marble fountain designed and built by artist Charles Swanson with lovely cast bronze doves by Elaine Franz Witten.
Tamutyte explains that there are three themes that she relied upon for the design of the garden. The first is spiritual power, symbolized by rain. “No one can give you rain. No one can buy rain. You can only pray for rain, and that makes it very spiritual, I think.” The second is inner strength, conveyed by centrally distributed rainwater, and deep-rooted garden plants able to persevere through even the toughest of times. The third and final theme is the surrounding environment: family, friends, community and the hospital itself full of doctors, nurses and staff. These providers form a network of support expressed by the foliage of perimeter plants and the combination of textures, colors and glossiness that blend into one harmonious picture.
 With privacy and comfort of the patients as the primary goal for the project, Tamutyte’s design expertly breaks up all views looking into the garden. This clever technique allows small glimpses in, but never a broad view. Onlookers are attracted to the three enormous sails stretched out horizontally over the garden to form a climbing spiral of raincatchers, which effectively obscures the view from windows above. Passersby on the ground level are drawn to admire a fountain tactically centered between two screens that mask the garden beyond.
The fountain is a donation in loving memory of Carolyn S. Allen who was cared for at St. Mary. The fountain, a shapely three-foot tall basin named Lura was hand carved in marble for sculptor Charles Swanson. Swanson, who generally uses a cast stone technique to form his sculptures, commissioned this memorial basin to be specially crafted in China. Perched atop the fountain are two bronze doves gazing longingly at each other over the calming water. Crafted by Elaine Franz Witten these bronze doves emphasize a quiet separation of loved ones that the memorial fountain honors well.
The vibrant flora at the Cancer Center Garden, which includes Ferns, ‘Fenway Park’ Boston Ivy, Gray’s Sedge, Spiderwort, Giant Coneflower, ‘October Sky’ Aster and Clematis among others, were all chosen because the mild scents of these plants do not offend the sensitive pallets of chemo-patients. The center of the courtyard was dug out to install a rainwater garden, which collects the building’s runoff. With the sunken garden, enclosing screens and shady sails wrapping the tranquil garden, a peaceful sense of security is established in an uncertain world.
Even the best hospitals can take on that “hospital feel” of sterile white walls and florescent lights, but the gardens at St. Mary, all designed by Carter van Dyke Assoc., serve as a peaceful escape. Greg Wozniak, president and CEO of St. Mary Medical Center explains, "The surroundings where you work make a big difference in people…It’s been a great experience for us. It’s got us thinking about other ways to look at bringing gardens into the hospital itself.”
Photos courtesy of Michael Wert
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