Olin drew upon the original plans of Cret and Gréber for the garden's renovation, keeping the formal style and layout of the original plan. Susan K. Weiler, one of eleven Olin partners who worked on the garden, mentioned the importance of designing the garden to emphasize movement: "It's all about movement through the entire space: up the stairs, through the gate, into the courtyard, up to the museum. Visitors can take in everything from the east and west gardens to the stairs up to the parapet."
Here, inside the interior courtyard garden, the grounds were regraded—matching, after the renovation, the exact heights specified in the original plans—the bluestone and limestone paving were all replaced, and many of the shrubs and trees were removed.
