An open-air learning environment — where playfulness and nature meet.
Nature-Infused
School Courtyard
Flourtown, PA
Just outside the school’s bustling cafeteria sat a courtyard full of untapped potential. With a shared vision for a gathering space that brings students and faculty closer to nature—and to one another—STUDIO EDITION collaborated with Metcalfe Architecture + Design to reimagine this hidden corner as a welcoming sanctuary.
A thoughtful planting palette of native & pollinator-friendly species is complemented by warm, tactile materials such as loose pea gravel, exposed-aggregate concrete, and custom wood seating and fencing.
The result is a tranquil yet vibrant courtyard: an open-air learning environment that celebrates seasonal change and offers sensory experiences at multiple scales for all who enter.
Design Process
We began by listening to the site — mapping light and shade, tracing how comfort shifts with the sun’s arc. Radiation analysis helped us locate places where people would naturally gather and where plants, whether sun-loving or shade-seeking, could best take root.
Designing for a school community means the landscape is never static. Students experience it through the rhythm of the academic year — from fall through early summer — and see its transformations unfold with the seasons. With this in mind, we shaped a palette of plants and materials that embraces change, offering sensory moments that evolve month by month.
Definitely one of our favorite plants (though Carex pensylvanica and Amsonia hubrichtii still hold the top two spots!), Aster laevis (Smooth Aster) earns its place with an easy grace. From late summer into early fall, it bursts into clouds of bluish-violet blooms just as many other perennials begin to fade. Their starry flowers offer vital nectar for bees, butterflies, and other late-season pollinators, while casting a soft haze of color that catches the crisp autumn light.
In the courtyard, this dynamic presence extends the vibrancy of the planting well into the school year — a reminder of both seasonal change and the resilience we love to work with.
