For more than 50 years, Family Tree Clinic has provided reproductive and sexual health services to underserved populations—from part of an old schoolhouse, until recently. Designed by Perkins&Will, the new Family Tree Clinic, which serves the LGBTQ community in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, now can serve an additional 10,000 patients a year.
In addition to providing reproductive and sexual health services to the uninsured and under-insured, Family Tree Clinic offers comprehensive outreach education services statewide, focusing on health and sex education in schools, community settings, colleges, and correctional facilities. The organization also offers health education for the deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing.
Of the clinic’s clients, 55 percent are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), 60 percent are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning), and 70 percent live below the poverty line. These individuals had faced long waiting lists and barriers to medical care.
In 2017, Family Tree launched a plan for a new and improved facility. The building serves two main purposes: a welcoming oasis for patients, staff, and community members, and a safe, private, trauma-informed place of respite. On the first floor, the community and staff spaces are surrounded by glass, welcoming visitors inside. A protected courtyard provides outdoor respite for staff and community as well as daylight for the interior public spaces. Meanwhile, the clinic is located on the second floor toward the back of the building, ensuring privacy.
The structure’s simple brick volume matches the neighborhood’s scale and material pattern. The design team carefully chose materials that indicated permanence in the community. BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists from the community covered the building with murals that express the power of healing.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Family Tree Clinic
Owner’s representative: Grand Real Estate Advisors
Design architect: Perkins&Will
Architect of record: Perkins&Will
MEP engineer: Victus Engineering
Structural engineer: BKBM Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: Greiner Construction
![Family Tree Clinic ext 2](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Family%20Tree%20Clinic%20ext%202.jpg)
![Family Tree int](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Family%20Tree%20int.jpg)
![Family Tree int 2](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Family%20Tree%20int%202.jpg)
![Courtesy Perkins&Will](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Family%20Tree%20ext%203.jpg)
Related Stories
| Sep 1, 2014
Ranked: Top federal government sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Clark Group, Fluor, and HOK top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest federal government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 26, 2014
6 lessons from a true IPD project: George Washington University Hospital
In its latest blog post, Skanska shares tips and takeaways from the firm's second true integrated project delivery project.
| Aug 22, 2014
Before & After: Hospital upgrade shows shifting needs in healthcare construction
Community Hospice of Northeast Florida took an outdated 10-bed inpatient hospice unit and created a space that would meet the needs of patients receiving end of life care by creating a place that felt like home.
| Aug 6, 2014
25 projects win awards for design-build excellence
The 2014 Design-Build Project/Team Awards showcase design-build best practices and celebrate the achievements of owners and design-build teams in nine categories across the spectrum of horizontal and vertical construction.
| Aug 5, 2014
Risk scanning: A new tool for managing healthcare facilities
Using well-known risk analytics applied to pre-existing facility data, risk scanning can provide a much richer view of facility condition more consistent with actual management decision making.
| Aug 1, 2014
Best in healthcare design: AIA selects eight projects for National Healthcare Design Awards
Projects showcase the best of healthcare building design and health design-oriented research.
| Jul 29, 2014
Blood center uses architecture to encourage blood donation [slideshow]
Designed by FAAB Architektura, the project's aesthetic was guided by its function. The color scheme, facade panel glossiness, and the irregularly elevated leitmotif were intentionally designed to evoke the "richness" of blood, according to the architects.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.