Title: Contemporary Women's Health
Location of Proejct: Knoxville, Tennessee
Project Completion Date: March 2015
Firm Name: BarberMcMurry Architects

Short Description: A new, multi-disciplinary, medical office for a women’s health group to provide holistic care which addresses spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. A modern respite housed within a visually calming & nurturing environment.

Architect's Statement: This East Tennessee, women led OBGYN practice sought a new building that would reflect their core beliefs in holistic medicine. The exterior architecture is light and minimal, a building draped in white, while the interior is bathed in warm daylight, utilizing natural materials with minimal visual clutter. The medical clinic is a simply organized, functional office that allows the two doctors their own exam corridors each served with shared support. All of which is designed to minimize the stress on their patients.

The site resides between two bisecting interstates and near a regional hospital. The adjacent landscape is still somewhat pastoral, dotted with a few one story residences immediately to the south with vegetated land to the adjacent north and east. The design stance assumes a long, low form to respect this context.

The building is organized along a “spinal column” with a simple shed roof which houses the Spa, Main Entry, Waiting, and Clinic Support. The higher volume provided by the shed roof accommodates HVAC service along the length of the building while at the same time allowing for higher ceilings in the lobby, yoga studio, and doctors’ offices. Two lower “bar” elements that house 14 exam rooms plug into the spinal column on the north and south side. The practice is led by two doctors with one working the north exam bar, the other the south. Their offices anchor the clinic on the east end of the building. Each exam “bar” accesses a central support area which contains Lab, Ultrasound, and Procedure spaces. The west end of the building houses the Spa which contains Massage, an Aesthetician, and is anchored by the Yoga Studio.

To emphasize visual tranquility, we utilized a limited palette of glass, metal, cypress wood, and board formed concrete while emphasizing the color white. Corridors, waiting, exam rooms, offices, and the spa all are afforded ample natural light and exterior views. Areas needing visual privacy utilize frosted glass. Minimalist pocket gardens are deployed around the structure, and in one instance at Spa Waiting, carved into & subtracted from the building form. These simple rock gardens, again, minimize visual noise and celebrate tranquility.