A Courtyard Designed Around Care
The Hill at Whitemarsh is a luxury continuing care retirement community in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, known for pairing an expansive campus setting with a high level of resident care. As part of the community’s healthcare expansion, RGS Associates supported courtyard and therapeutic landscape design tied to the evolving needs of senior living, memory care, and resident wellness.

Connecting Landscape to Daily Life
The project focused on outdoor space as a functional part of the care environment, not simply a decorative amenity. For residents, families, and staff, the courtyard provides a safe and accessible setting where fresh air, plant life, seasonal color, and everyday movement can become part of the care experience.

Therapeutic Design for Senior Living
RGS’s work was informed by therapeutic landscape principles that prioritize comfort, choice, safety, and sensory engagement. Planting design, circulation, seating areas, and visual connections to the outdoors can support calm, familiarity, and dignity while giving residents opportunities to engage with nature at their own pace.

Supporting Memory Care and Wellness
The courtyard is connected to a larger healthcare expansion that includes memory care, rehabilitation, and skilled nursing spaces. The expansion includes the addition of memory care beds and a horticultural courtyard intended to support therapeutic gardening and resident activities. RGS’s landscape work helps reinforce that purpose by shaping the outdoor environment around resident use, staff visibility and long-term maintainability.

A Focused Role Within a Larger Campus
The Hill at Whitemarsh has grown and evolved over time, with each phase contributing to the character and function of the broader retirement community. Within this current phase of work, RGS’s role focused on courtyard and therapeutic landscape design, supporting an outdoor environment that is accessible, comfortable, and responsive to the needs of residents, staff, and visitors.