Elizabeth Morse Genius Children’s Garden

While the Garfield Park Conservatory has always been a great place for visitors of any age, an especially frequented garden is the Elizabeth Morse Genius Children’s Garden. But just like Chicago’s weather in March, learning-through-experience approaches constantly change and, subsequently, the Children’s Garden needed to be refreshed. As an architectural consultant, Bailey Edward is contributing to the improvements led by Hitchcock Design Group by designing both a new, nature-disguised family restroom to ensure the comfort of all visitors as well as a donor wall to thank those who have made the new space financially possible.

The new family restroom, located within an interior building, is easily accessible for family with strollers or wheelchairs and includes an adult-size changing table. Inside, the wall and floor finishes include organic designs. On the exterior, a drinking fountain and a water bottle-filling station allow visitors to hydrate while added storage gives the park district easy access to tools to maintain the garden.

In keeping with the natural look and feel of the Children’s Garden, the exterior of the bathroom facility is finished in a limestone-looking cast stone. Rather than leave the roof visible to those looking down from the play structure, Hitchcock Design Group created a large steel with IPE wood covering leaf to camouflage the building into the surrounding environment. Photovoltaic panels in the leaf allow it to collect energy from the sun through the conservatory’s glass ceiling. An informational sign nearby will educate young visitors on the importance of renewable energy sources.