Huntsville, AL
The Catholic Diocese of Birmingham planned a new high school, called St. John Paul II Catholic High School, to serve the growing catholic student body in Huntsville’s Research Park. The school’s Board of Trustees intended the school to be a multi-phased project. The first phase included meeting all of the city’s landscape ordinances. Bostick Landscape Architects (BLA) installed a mixture of hardwoods and pines around the building’s perimeter to acclimate it into the park. BLA planted the entry trees to represent the outstretched inviting hands of God. BLA used biblical plant materials such as Cedar’s of Lebanon and plants with blooms symbolized in the bible.
The courtyard, which will serve both as an outdoor classroom and chapel, is planted with spring-blooming trees that will bloom around Easter to symbolize new life and resurrection. Future phases of construction on the site will provide additional classrooms as well as unique outdoor learning activities.