These are some preliminary design ideas I had. One of my first times drawing sections in AutoCAD.

I decided on this section and I played around with the AutoCAD hatches and this was where I got the inspiration of the organic "turtle" pattern.

Perspective view of the design created from a combination of photography, AutoCAD, and Photoshop.

Proposed Elevation and Base Plan. Created in AutoCAD and rendered in Photoshop.

A lightly rendered section of the final design

A preliminary model. The "turtle" patterns are laser cut from thick paper and the green mounds are made from felt. The glass wall is made from semi-transparent paper. 

After critisism of my preliminary model, I found that my design was too "confining". So i pulled the "turtle" pattern from the building over the courtyard and onto the sidewalk. This model is made from green sand instead of felt to give a more realistic sense of the grading.

The same design as the previous except with no fence.