Growing a Shared Vision for SAIT’s Gardens
A co-designed campus space for learning, wellness and community
SAIT’s Jackson Henry Henuset Memorial Garden was created to connect culinary students with food at its source. After the original garden was removed to make way for the John Ware building, SAIT’s School of Hospitality and Tourism saw an opportunity to honour its history while imagining something even more ambitious.
J5 partnered with SAIT, Reimagine, and 5th World Consulting to engage students, faculty, employees, leaders, and external partners in shaping a new vision for The Gardens. Together, we explored how the expanded space could become a living classroom, a year-round place for wellness, and a welcoming gathering space at the heart of the SAIT campus.
INDUSTRY
Education
CLIENT
SAIT
WHY IT MATTERS
Campus spaces influence how people learn, connect, and experience belonging. The Gardens offered an opportunity to move beyond a traditional green space and create a place where education, food, sustainability, culture, wellness, and community could come together.
By involving the people who would learn, teach, work, and gather there, SAIT developed a vision grounded in real needs and shared aspirations. The resulting concept honours the legacy of Jackson’s Garden while creating new possibilities for experiential learning and campus life.
PROCESS HIGHLIGHTS
We facilitated four co-design sessions involving 51 students, faculty members, leaders, external specialists, and partners representing 15 departments and organizations.
We translated a significant range of ideas into a shared vision and strategic framework that informed the garden concept, programming, spatial design, costing, and future fundraising materials.
Impact
-
Student Level
The Gardens were envisioned as an extraordinary living classroom where culinary students could reconnect with ingredients at their source and learn how food is grown, harvested, prepared, and shared.
Students from across SAIT would also benefit from interdisciplinary learning opportunities related to sustainable design, water management, food production, Indigenous knowledge, construction, technology, and hospitality.
-
Campus Level
The vision created new possibilities for year-round wellness, social connection, outdoor learning, events, dining, and cultural activation.
Students and employees helped shape a campus destination designed to support calm and reflection while also creating space for gathering, celebration, creativity, and community.
-
Organizational Level
SAIT gained a shared vision connecting the history of Jackson’s Garden with a more ambitious future for the expanded site.
A zoned concept, preliminary design direction, estimated costs, and donor and grant materials created a practical foundation for leadership approval, fundraising, phased development, and the eventual return of The Gardens to campus.