The Woodlawn Friend Health Center breathes new life into an underutilized space to provide comprehensive care in Chicago’s South Side. For more than 25 years, Friend Health has been an irreplaceable source of uplifting the medically underserved areas and health professional shortage areas within Chicago neighborhoods. The team partnered with Moody Nolan to create a one-stop center that serves as an extension of the community, housing a wide range of integrated health and wellness services that are typically dispersed among independent facilities. Completed in 2022, the 30,000-square-foot, two-story building provides primary care, dental, vision, behavioral and mental health services to residents.

The two-story building presents a welcoming facade to the neighborhood that engages residents and aggregates many services needed by the community. The building entrances are aligned with public transportation routes to encourage accessibility and flow of healthcare into the neighborhood. Recognizing that patients are often stressed when visiting medical providers, it was essential that first-time visitors could easily understand the facility and how to engage with its entry points. This led to a design that necessitates two front doors; the tower addition to the east engages the public transit stops, while the new porte-cochere to the west accepts patient drop-off and entry from the parking area. Residents are welcomed with a celebration of the rich history and diversity of the Woodlawn community in the form of a captivating mural on the exterior of the building. Created by local muralist Rahmaan Statik Barnes, the mural features “living legends” in the area and provides a brilliant display of warmth, color, and connectedness. Inside, this sentiment is reinforced through wall graphics that elegantly portray the cultural roots that have shaped Woodlawn’s identity.

Virtually indistinguishable from new construction, the Woodlawn Friend Health Center demonstrates the adaptive reuse potential for overlooked properties, and their ability to establish community well-being and health equity in medically underserved areas. Once an unapproachable, recessed building frontage, the addition introduces a contemporary blend of transparent glazing and metal cladding to create a welcoming entry that captures the outreach spaces, community classrooms, and vertical circulation. Punched openings were created within the existing brick veneer walls to introduce much-needed daylight throughout the program. The design team was able to achieve more with less by using readily available materials in unexpected ways to transform the facades, create new interior elements, and optimize the healthcare service layout to enhance patient satisfaction.

Because health is more than just medical, it was important to have the first floor open for use as a community space. The Woodlawn Community Hub will welcome speakers, community groups, meetings, training, and more. The multi-functional space offers separate classroom areas to allow in-depth group learning. Additionally, the new Healthy Eating Café serves the neighborhood in both food and knowledge of healthy eating practices and techniques. To ensure residents are able to receive the care they need, the facility is certified as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that provides a sliding scale and low-cost services to residents in need.

Design: Moody Nolan
Photography: Jason Keen