This project provided a new two-story, 16,000 SF home for the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health (CHOICES). Founded in 1974, CHOICES is a national model for truly comprehensive reproductive healthcare that now includes reproductive and sexual wellness services, perinatal care, out-of-hospital births using a midwifery model, and gender-affirming services. When it opened, CHOICES was the nation’s first nonprofit organization to provide both birth care and abortion services under one roof. Additionally, the complex and varied program - which exists in an ever-changing legal landscape - includes provisions for education and community outreach.

The building is simultaneously outward looking and inward focused. The patterned façade was inspired by the art form of the southern quilt - draped over a relatively simple box. The quilt as a artform touches on themes of warmth, shelter, diversity through artistic expression, and community (i.e. the quilting bee). In addition to presenting a vibrant façade on the busy Poplar Ave corridor, the building includes ample interior daylighting. A generous south facing porch welcomes visitors. A roof garden on level-2 provides natural lighting to adjacent birthing suites and to the lobby below via a light shaft. This landscaped interior courtyard (one of the few green roofs in Memphis) is directly accessible to laboring mothers and their families, or alternatively they can enjoy views of the landscaped space from their birthing tubs. The project has garnered local, regional, and national attention, and has been featured in stories on NPR and in Architect Magazine.