The Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation is the first facility of it's kind in the state of Tennessee and is one of few in the country pioneering the concept of cross disciplinary facilities for the healthcare field. This new step in higher education seeks to elevate the student experience through an environment which offers a friendlier pedestrian environment, an immersive clinical experience and more purposeful means of connecting to staff and peers.

The University of Tennessee Memphis campus has historically struggled with a cohesive, pedestrian friendly campus, adding structures throughout time with little consideration of consistency or ease of access. The CHIPS building acts as a modern connection between the diverse, urban elements, responding to multiple variables through form, materiality and function. This design is not only aesthetically pleasing, but valuable through the means in which it serves the University’s host of cross-disciplinary scholars.

In addition to facilitating physical and aesthetic connections for the surrounding context, the CHIPS building also provides a means of progressive student learning. Interior spaces such as the skills labs and multi-purpose classrooms can be transformed based on the needs of multiple healthcare disciplines. Each classroom experience is designed to provide immersive situations which imitate real-world functions of staff and patient flow.

Together these elements, of creating a consistent aesthetic, providing a safe and comfortable environment for the individual and designing a space that functions seamlessly with multiple educational itineraries, act as a tool which continues push the boundaries of healthcare education.