Shidler College of Business

Location: University Of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i

Client: Jay H. Shidler and The Shidler Family Foundation

In September 2006, Jay Shidler — commercial real estate owner, nationally acknowledged expert in real estate investment and finance, and alumnus — donated $25 million to establish the Shidler College of Business. A portion of the donation was allocated for landscape and building renovation.

Helber Hastert & Fee, Planners—which has designed landscapes for many commercial buildings in Honolulu owned by The Shidler Group—worked closely with the benefactor, the university and college administration, and campus buildings and grounds management. Over an intensive nine-month period, a stark landscape was transformed into a lush garden campus—modeled after the concept of a corporate campus—where a community of people can gather, study, and work.

Helber Hastert & Fee’s landscape department designed the overall garden campus concept.  The Gold Garden showcases the college’s front door. Several Queen Emma shower trees slated for relocation from other parts of campus contribute their seasonal gold to the garden foreground, and lawn terraces framed by lava-inspired steps complete the welcome statement. The Shade Garden features one of the largest collections of native Hawaiian ferns, accented by a rich array of native trees, shrubs, and ground cover. A diversity of tropical plants and Australian natives frame the Terrace Garden lawn and form a colorful foundation for the gifted sculpture Sentinel Marker by world-renowned artist Beverly Pepper. Lava-inspired steps provide an eye-catching transition in the lawn slope from the Terrace Garden down to the Courtyard Garden. Sod-jointed random quartzite pavers enhance the garden environment in the courtyard and reinforce the dappled shade from eucalyptus and ficus trees.

HHF also designed landscape accent lighting and selected and coordinated the installation of site furnishings: concrete tables and benches, accent planting in decorative ceramic planters, and customized logo trash receptacles