The Bridges Center

Kid-friendly...neighborhood-friendly...earth-friendly

Completed in 2004, the BRIDGES Center was the first green commercial building in Memphis - but that was just the beginning. The building was the culmination of years of dreaming by BRIDGES leaders about exactly what they wanted a structure built specifically to carry out the organization's mission would be.



BRIDGES leaders wanted:

  • A building that says “we love kids”
  • A building that respects the earth
  • A building that teaches and surprises
  • A building that is “part of the solution, not part of the problem”
  • A building that uplifts young people

Those dreams became reality in what is surely one of the most unique buildings in Memphis. One with its own story that is as vital and interesting as the organization it houses.

  • The building is open and welcoming – the facades are broken up so that the building doesn’t appear “monumental. It is meant to be a place where all can come – there are no high fences or other barriers.
  • The building is built to the scale of the neighbor hood it inhabits – the outside of the building is no higher than the roofs of homes in the area and parking is on the roof instead of in a multi-story garage.
  • The gravel in the breezeway area is a rain garden that filters rainfall runoff from the parking deck and filters it before returning it to the ground, instead of sending oil and gas –tainted parking lot runoff into a storm drain and ultimately into the river.
  • The building is constructed of simple, sustainable materials such as concrete and recycled particle wallboard. The walls of the work station and the carpet are made of recycled material.
  • Construction elements such as joints, ductwork and wiring for lighting are left exposed in order to teach kids how buildings are put together and how they work.
  • Fresh air and sunlight are prevalent throughout the building. Floor-to-ceiling windows are used throughout and ultraviolet filters in the air-handling system remove bacteria and pollutants from the air in the building. Environmentally-friendly, non-allergenic paint is used throughout the building.
  • The varied colors of glass used in the exterior windows add to the surprise element of the building as well as reflecting the agency’s commitment to diversity.
  • The wood used in the floor and in the table in the board meeting room is all from local, managed forests.
  • The building, particularly the section containing the Wilson Family High Adventure Hall, is designed with an eye toward nurturing the neural pathways in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is known to be the last part of the brain to develop. Nurturing those pathways is important for growing adolescents. The development of the prefrontal cortex is tied to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal and social “control.”
  • There are 176 solar panels on the roof of the training side, capable of producing up to 32,560 watts of DC power. Converting DC to AC and accounting for the losses in heating wires, these panels can add up to about 30 kilowatts of AC power to the MLGW electric grid on a bright sunny day in mid-summer. The center is the only solar power-generating site in Memphis.