a new heart for social interaction

Eda U. Gerstacker Grove: a flexible and resilient social space at the University of Michigan

By: Stoss

The Eda U. Gerstacker Grove is a renovation of a 4-acre underutilized campus quad at the center of the University of Michigan’s North Campus. The Grove activates the space for the students, faculty, and administrators on campus, while it also serves as the heart of student social life. The project goals included; to create an outdoor civic space that effectively knits the campus community together, encourages collaborative, multidisciplinary learning, connects to the natural systems that underpin the campus, and provides a sense of place.

Programming, flexibility, and seasonality The Grove is a lush and active space that can accommodate a range of rotating performances, events, and everyday activities. It was conceived as a flexible green quad, with clearings in an elegant grove that can host larger-scale activities like musical and arts performances, student and alumni events, and casual play or recreation including beach volleyball and swings. The

configuration of the central plaza, paths, landforms, flat lawns, and volleyball “beach” were designed to maximize different types of programmatic use including a large tent, food trucks, event staging, and market stalls. The space hosts a series of changing installations by engineering and architecture students that combine interests in technology, design, and play. Designed to amplify daily and seasonal change, the space brings to life different parts of the quad in warmer and cooler months: flowering amelanchier signals the arrival of spring, while a ring of red and orange foliage trees transform in the fall.

Formal expression

The plaza paving is an expressive feature that in actuality was conceived as a cost-saving measure. With little budget for high-end pavers, the design team utilized pour in place concrete and the required expansion joints in an innovative pattern, creating a truly unique look and feel. Equally distinctive, sinuous custom benches of concrete and steel frame the walkways, providing space to sit, lounge, perch, play, and socialize. Finally, a playful topography creates a diversity of scale and experience. The green quad is marked by dramatic topographies, with grassy hills rising from an otherwise flat site to form

shaded overlooks and lushly planted infiltration gardens probing deep into the quad’s surface to collect stormwater. Hillocks provide the gathering function of an amphitheater, without creating a void when empty. Clear sight lines were prioritized, with landforms rising no higher than 5 feet.

interactive lighting design

Infiltration gardens collect rainwater on site while a weather station reads rainfall, temperature, and other data. One hundred acrylic rods with LED lights distributed between the prickly bald cypress trees and lush ferns in the gardens provide a reading of current weather conditions and illuminate rainy days: as stormwater enters the gardens, the rods gently flicker, creating an extraordinary sensorial experience for passersby.

ecological performance

A performance study conducted by the Landscape Architecture Foundation found that the project has had a measurable ecological impact. The design reduces peak storm water runoff rates by up to 100% for a 2-year, 24-hour storm event and up to 34% for a 100-year, 24-hour storm

event; and improves water quality by removing up to 80% of total suspended solids for a 2-year, 24-hour storm event. The planting of 179 new trees and the preservation of 39 existing trees has contributed to sequestering an estimated 2 tons of atmospheric carbon annually; the trees onsite also intercept an estimated 27,000 gallons of storm water annually. Species were also selected and placed to minimize irrigation needs: for instance, topographical high points were planted with drought tolerant no-mow grass. The Grove is a new meeting ground and space for creative engagement for a diverse campus community, strengthening the university’s connections between and among disciplines, and establishing a new heart for social interactions. Demonstrating principles of flexibility, sustainability and innovative design, Gerstacker Grove is a responsive, resilient open space for the University. The space effectively enhances social connection, improves ecological health, and strengthens community wellbeing.

Lead design team: Chris Reed, Amy Whitesides, Tim Wilson, Difei Ma, Jarrad Newman Project consultants: Mannik Smith Group, Illuminart Project completion: 2016 Client: University of Michigan Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States Photography: Millicent Harvey (p10-12) and Mike Belleme (p13)