News

Innovative Interiors: Gresham Smith Projects Earn IIDA TN Awards  

Healthcare and Life & Work Places Markets Receive Recognition for Outstanding Design

We are excited to announce that three Gresham Smith-designed projects were honored at the IIDA Tennessee Design Awards, which recognizes design excellence and celebrates innovative solutions for interior spaces. The 2024 event brought together design professionals from across the state of Tennessee and showcased excellence in interior design and the impact of the design community. Read about our winning projects below and congratulations to our talented teams! 

Healthcare New Construction | Baptist Healthcare – Brent Lane Campus 

Baptist Health Care Pensacola’s Brent Lane Campus is the new home for the Florida panhandle’s only not-for-profit health system, which includes a 264-bed hospital and medical office building. Showcasing the region’s stunning natural environment and unique history, the team employed principles of biophilic design and prospect & refuge to promote healing, comfort, and the sense of being rooted in community. To achieve this, the material palette for the hospital draws heavily from the natural environment to support a sense of place that feels specific to the region, such as natural wood, terracotta, handmade tiles, and classic terrazzo. White sand sourced from Pensacola beaches was used as aggregate in the precast panels, terracotta details characterize the oldest buildings in the historic district built by Spanish settlers, and ample natural light invites the outdoors in. These intentional design elements allow patients, visitors, and staff to feel rooted in the unique history and natural surroundings of Pensacola, while inspiring hope and healing in a setting that reflects the open, nurturing culture of Baptist Health. 

Healthcare Renovation/Expansion | Methodist Le Bonheur CVICU Expansion 

Located in Memphis, Tennessee, the Methodist Le Bonheur Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) Expansion includes a dedicated 31-bed Cardiovascular ICU with a central, elevated Courtyard that fills the unit with daylight, while also providing a location for play and physical rehabilitation exercises. As another part of the CVICU, a hybrid Cardiac Catheterization Lab and MRI—one of only eight in the country—allows for safer patient care, with lesser time spent under anesthesia. Expansions to the facility’s Level IV NICU—the only one available within the state of Tennessee—PACU, and Blood Bank are also included. 

The design for this project draws inspiration from the Mississippi River along with its shorelines and the natural foliage of the region. An evolved finish palette was applied to new interior spaces, providing a neutral canvas for local art installations—a top priority of the facility which currently houses hundreds of local works—while also integrating youthful, carefully balanced accents that respond to the function of a given space and the needs of its occupants (i.e., defining areas of respite and more activated zones). This expansion builds upon the foundation of high cultural and operational standards that exist within this distinguished facility, while maintaining a focus on the future of care for generations to come. 

Small Commercial Project | Capitol Christian Music Group Headquarters 

Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) recently relocated to a new Class A mass timber structure building in a vibrant Nashville neighborhood, marking a significant transition after 30 years in Brentwood, Tennessee. The move catalyzed a workplace reinvention, aligning their business, culture, and workplace with a design that promotes collaboration, work-life balance, and hospitality. Featuring a welcoming reception that is more coffee bar than desk, a lounge with a commanding LED screen for artist content, private outdoor terraces, and a ‘Creative House’ studio suite catering to collaboration and innovation connected to the work lounge by a monumental stair, the 40,800 SF space incorporates natural light and flexible zones, promotes hospitality and prioritizes artist and visitor experience while preparing for future growth.