The Front Porch was conceived as an outreach opportunity by a local church congregation with a 16-acre wooded campus in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. Gifting four acres of the property to a newly formed nonprofit foundation tasked with operating and maintaining the facility, the church intentionally created separation between itself and The Front Porch to strengthen its mission as an independent, inclusive community hub. Responding to the growing social isolation and division in contemporary culture, the building offers an intentional place for connection, hospitality, and shared experience. A deep, wrap-around porch on three sides welcomes neighbors and visitors alike, extending the building’s program into the landscape with space for rocking chairs, picnic tables, and casual conversation. Its long, low metal canopy is scaled to the surrounding mid-century neighborhood and shelters a mix of public and private uses, from an event space and café to a grief counseling center and coworking offices. Inside, open gathering areas on the west gradually transition to more intimate spaces to the east, with floor-to-ceiling glass framing views of the mature woodland and everyday campus activity.

The porch is designed as both a social and environmental mediator—sized for gathering and outfitted with fans and heaters to extend seasonal comfort and proportioned to shield interiors from the southern and western sun. A locally operated coffee shop anchors the heart of the plan, opening south to a shaded sitting porch and north to an open-sky porch overlooking a soccer field. A cost-effective wood truss structure provides a sustainable, carbon-sequestering framework for the building, while warm wood siding defines the porches with a natural, tactile quality that complements the surrounding homes. Inside, crafted birch plywood millwork brings the same material honesty to a finer scale, adding warmth, durability, and handcrafted detail to gathering spaces and private rooms alike. Together, these elements ground the building in sustainable practice while enriching both exterior and interior with materials that invite touch and age gracefully over time. Two primary corridors parallel to the north and south porches knit together all program spaces, filtering daylight deep into the building and maintaining constant visual and physical connection to the outdoors. The Front Porch invites movement between inside and out, reinforcing its central mission: to gather, grow, and share in community.