Family Tree Clinic, Minneapolis: Photo Tour
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: Against a tight budget, the design team fought hard for the elements that they knew would create the most impact in the new Family Tree Clinic, such bright colors, representative local art, ample daylight, and seating options for all types of people.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: Immediately upon entering the building, visitors are greeted by a bright yellow staircase, which serves as a wayfinding beacon that’s visible from nearly everywhere in the building. A skylight bring sunlight into the space, further enhancing the effect this bright core of the building.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: The space utilizes a bright, bold color palette on the walls, ceiling, and furnishings, as well as local artwork, to create an inviting and joyful environment that welcomes everyone.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: The clinic’s light-filled waiting area on the second floor looks out over the neighborhood and provides views of the Minneapolis skyline.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: Nearly every corridor in the building terminates with a large window, providing intuitive wayfinding, promoting a sense of calm through connections to nature, and giving often vulnerable clients the feeling that they always have a way out of the space.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: A trauma-informed design strategy is used within the exam rooms, where exam rooms doors have frosted narrow panes of glass to give patients a sense of what’s beyond. Frosted windows to the outdoors help create a sense of security even within a closed room, all while maintaining privacy.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: Recognizing that the clinic’s outreach programs serve a significant population of the deaf, deaf-blind, and hard-of-hearing, the meeting spaces and huddle rooms are designed with filmed glass to give American Sign Language speakers privacy in their conversations. Additionally, accent paint colors provide high contrast that helps ease eye strain for visually impaired and normally sighted clients alike.
Corey Gaffer, Gaffer Photography
Family Tree Clinic: The inclusive environment features a variety of seating options in consideration for people of all shapes, sizes, and abilities; all-gender restrooms; and brightly colored artwork created by local LGBTQ and BIPOC artists.
Family Tree Clinic, Minneapolis
For more than 50 years, Family Tree Clinic in Minneapolis has been providing reproductive and sexual health services to underserved populations in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
With a client base that includes 55 percent BIPOC, 60 percent LGTBQ, and 70 percent who live at incomes below the poverty line, the organization sought to create a new clinic environment that would serve as a beacon to traditionally underserved people while providing a trauma-informed place of respite through clear wayfinding, views to the outdoors, and intentionally framed corridors that provide patients and staff with a sense of calm and safety.
Social-purpose design
Family Tree Clinic partnered with the Perkins&Will Minneapolis’ social-purpose design team to plan its next phase of growth for the clinic and expand its community services to include parenting classes, legal clinics, peer education programs, and LGBTQ+ drop-in sessions for youth.
The new clinic opened in November 2021, strategically located one mile south of the downtown Minneapolis core with connection to local transit and regional interstate access.
The building was designed with two main principles in mind, creating an inviting, welcoming oasis for patients, staff, and community members and creating a safe, private, trauma-informed place of respite.
To achieve these often-opposing ideas, the clinic proper is situated on the second floor toward the back of the building to provide privacy. The clinic waiting room is located on the second floor providing views to the thoroughfare below. The first floor contains community and staff spaces surrounded by glass, welcoming visitors inside. An intimate, protected courtyard, daylights interior public spaces creating connections to the outdoors and provides outdoor respite for staff and community.
Prioritizing calm and safety
The design prioritizes occupant health through access to daylight and views throughout the project. Many users of the building have experienced some form of medical trauma. A skylight illuminates a bright yellow core providing clear wayfinding. Large views outdoors and intentionally framed corridors are essential to provide patients and staff a sense of calm and safety. Frosted narrow lights in exam rooms maintain privacy while offering natural light, prioritizing wellness of everyone in the space.
These carefully considered design elements come together to create a trauma-informed, safe place for patients and staff.
Family Tree Clinic project details:
Location: Minneapolis
Completion date: November 2021
Owner: Family Tree Clinic
Total building area: 17,000 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: $4.9 million
Cost/sq. ft.: $288
Architecture firm: Perkins&Will
Interior design: Perkins&Will
General contractor: Greiner Construction
Engineering: Victus Engineering (MEP), BKBM Engineering (structural, civil)
Builder: Greiner Construction
