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Architecture
Interior Design
Programming
Signage Design
Wayfinding/Signage -
Enhanced Site Accessibility
Light Pollution Reduction
Low Maintenance Materials -
Completed March 2012
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Memphis, Tennessee
Family Safety Center
Program objectives were to project a progressive image of public service while providing a more comforting and secure environment for staff and victims, all within an extremely modest budget.
Located within a 1976 office building, the design is intended to overcome stereotypical notions of public institutional space, using color and light, primarily through paint, furniture and fixtures, to expand the perception of the interior space and create informal circulation areas.
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The Family Safety Center is a non-profit organization serving victims of domestic violence. Partner agencies, including civil, criminal, health, and social services groups, occupy one space to provide a coordinated response. The Center occupies a floor of an office building whose exterior thick stone bands are divided by continuous horizontal windows. The windows occupy a 3-foot-tall ribbon that align with the original 8-foot ceiling height. The ceilings in public and circulation areas are removed, creating much taller spaces. The windowsill is used as an organizing datum. The use of a single color above this datum merges the ceiling and upper walls to form a larger field, extending the interior/exterior relationship throughout the floor. The illuminated surface of suspended pendant lighting aligns with the window head height. A rectangular grid of fixtures is used at office areas for even lighting, and a combination of round pendants define the circulation spaces. The round lights float within the field of color, suggesting an openness to navigation – much like the journeys of the victims who come to the Center for help.
