The new Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy Medical Center is an 18-story, 688,000 square foot hospital facility located in the 300 block of St. Paul Place, Baltimore, adjacent to Mercy’s current campus. Opened on December 19, 2010, the new facility offers spacious, beautifully appointed private rooms for all patients; convenient front door drop-off; an expansive 2-story atrium lobby; three eco-friendly rooftop meditation gardens, and operating rooms equipped with advanced technology including robotics. The new facility is connected by bridge and tunnel to Mercy?s existing facilities.

Mercy installed 17,500 sf of greenroofs, totaling about $1 million, in three different locations. Mahan Rykiel Associates (MRA) was part of the design team led by Ellerbe Becket (an AECOM firm) for the new Mary Catherine Bunting Center Mahan Rykiel designed the streetscape as well as three green roofs on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors. Covering half the roof?s surface, the gardens provide a respite for patients, families and staff members in an otherwise very urban environment. The gardens also help reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the interior of the hospital.

The rooftop gardens feature recycled furnishing materials, native plantings and a water feature. A planted trellis creates a green fa?ade buffer for patient room privacy as well as provides additional vertical garden space.

It has been clinically proven and experts agree that even a view of nature from a hospital window can improve patient recovery. Mercy Medical Center’s Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer said open garden spaces such as Mercy’s three roof gardens in the Bunting Center play a big part in healing. “I refer to it as a spiritual oasis,” she said. “That’s true for patients and their families, or staff. You just need a break and nice environment.” Therapeutic, restorative gardens and the design of healthcare spaces have been a core part of Mahan Rykiel?s practice for more than 28 years.

Mercy Medical Center?s Judy Weiland says ?First and foremost, our focus was to create a very flexible facility that created healing benefits for our patients and staff…gardens extend rooftop lifespans by two or three times.” She expects Mercy to trim its energy costs by as much as 15 percent. (Baltimore Business Journal, 2011).

Mercy’s Mary Catherine Bunting Center has received the following awards: Grand Award from the Landscape Contractors Association’s (LCA) Excellence in Landscape Competition, Merit Award from Professional Landcare Network?s (PLANET) in the Commercial Landscape Contracting category 42nd Annual Environmental Improvement Awards Program, and Associated Builders and Contractors Metro
Washington Chapter?s Excellence in Construction Awards Program (November 2011 for Ruppert Landscape); the AIA DC Presidential Citation for Urban Design, noted for its three unique rooftop gardens (September 23, 2011); and a Notable Project Award, Modern Healthcare Design Awards (2008).