Founded by the late actor and singer Danny Thomas, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened in Memphis, Tennessee in 1962. The pioneering institution is a global leader in the research and treatment of pediatric cancers and other life-threatening childhood diseases, but up until this year, it was short on spaces for patients and families to retreat to, to find jolts of optimism and relief while navigating a turbulent, anxious time.
Eager to introduce such an uplifting sanctuary, St. Jude, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company AbbVie, tapped New York- and Miami-based design firm ICRAVE and local practice ANF Architects to imagine the 45,000-square-foot St. Jude Family Commons spanning one floor of the original hospital.
ICRAVE—which had previously worked on the restorative, experiential David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center…
