Ford Experience Center

As part of the massive renovation of a hospitality facility in Dearborn, this 2021 landscape project welcomes guests and encourages social engagement with a sleek but human-focused design. Following the central tenets of the new campus masterplan, the design embraces multi-functionality while paying particular attention to the pedestrian experience. Guests approach through a flat drive aisle to a curbless plaza of sandblasted concrete and tree grates, all of which facilitate seamless movement into and out of the building. Various terraces invite indoor events to extend naturally from meeting rooms and the café to versatile outdoor spaces for conversation and relaxation. Shared elements such as flowing earth contours, custom retaining walls, and distinctive plantings ensure a cohesive feel throughout. Precast concrete walls echo the fluid lines of the building while subtly dividing space and directing movement. They undulate and fold, transforming into sculptural elements, plant bed borders, or benches topped with thermally modified ash for a sustainable and beautiful solution. To fulfill the client’s desire to restore the site’s oak savannah prairie typology, large sweeping beds of prairie dropseed and little bluestem punctuated with tall oaks bring historic vistas to the present. Under the patio surface, structural soil cells support the health and vitality of a ginkgo tree grove. In exchange, the trees provide shade and divide the terrace into smaller rooms perfect for intimate conversation. Seasonal forbs offer ever-changing pops of color and visual excitement.