AIA Memphis honored some of the city’s top architecture firms for their contributions to excellence in design, the profession, and the community. The awards ceremony took place March 4 at the AIA Memphis’ annual black tie “Celebration of Architecture” Gala at the Peabody Hotel. The 2006 design awards jury, from Philadelphia, included: Robert Venturi, FAIA, Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates; Gary Hack, dean, Penn Design, University of Pennsylvania; James N. Kiser, consulting principal, Kiser Straw & Colander; and Ingra Saffron, architecture critic, Philadelphia Inquirer.

DESIGN AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE: NEW CONSTRUCTION

Whitehaven Visitors Center, Memphis, by archimania and Self Tucker Architects
The architects strove to create a facility that would be a catalyst for revitalizing a neglected neighborhood—and do so within an extremely modest budget. The project houses a visitors’ center, community meeting room, and small gift shop. Responding to a corner lot along a heavily traveled intersection, the structure serves as a new icon for the community. Located one mile from Elvis Presley’s historic Graceland, the design had to set itself apart from its otherwise mundane surroundings. As one of the first new buildings in the area in several years, the structure also sets a positive tone for future development. The jury thought that the use of simple materials—rock-faced concrete block, over-sized brick, and birch plywood—employed in a direct and straightforward manner, successfully created a warm and inviting atmosphere for visitors and community residents alike.
Photo © 2005, Jeffrey Jacobs Photography.

FedExForum, Memphis, by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with Looney Ricks Kiss Architects
This arena, which serves as home for the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team, was designed to be an integral component of the surrounding neighborhood. The $225 million complex, which also serves as a multi-use entertainment facility, is the largest public building project in the city’s history. Located on the south edge of the Beale Street entertainment district, the structure integrates into the neighborhood without overpowering it. In addition to the arena proper and the attendant parking structures, the facility also houses the relocated Smithsonian Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, which occupies the ground floor of the team administration building. The jury recognized this design not only as a successful work of architecture, but as an example of skillful urban design. They complimented the scheme for the development of the public plaza that ties the arena directly into the surrounding area and offers itself as an alternative outdoor performance area.
Photo © Tim Hursley/The Arkansas Office.

DESIGN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: RESTORATION

Ericson Group Inc., Memphis, by Architecture Incorporated
This project consists of the interior redesign and exterior renovation of a historic former paint factory for use as offices for an entertainment company. Originally constructed in 1912, with the north half of the building added sometime in the 1920s, the long-abandoned building contained many remnants of its previous life. In undertaking the adaptive re-use of the building, the owner wished to retain as much of the historic character of the building as possible while evoking a contemporary image. The jurors appreciated the manner in which the modern interventions were inserted into the historic structure. They found that the contrast between new and old was very successfully detailed, such as the way in which the existing wood floor and roof joists were incorporated into the finished project.
Photo © 2005, Jeffrey Jacobs Photography.

DESIGN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: INTERIORS

The Art of the Motorcycle Exhibit, Memphis, by Hnedak Bobo Group
Taking visitors along an open road of 91 motorcycles, the exhibit designers created an artful, unobtrusive backdrop to enhance the evolutionary story of these legends on wheels. As a touring motorcycle exhibition licensed by the Guggenheim Museum, this design captures the spirit of previous shows with a feeling all its own. The architects used curvilinear and undulating still forms—walls, floor plane, gallery dividers, and an independent contrasting red floating “ribbon”—to portray the boundless motion of the physical motorcycle and of movement through time. The jurors were particularly taken with the evocative forms, as well as the choice of materials and how the exhibit environment skillfully complemented and enhanced the objects on display; for example, the way that rough-hewn barn wood was juxtaposed with an early-century motorcycle to convey a feeling of the age.
Photo © Rick Bostick/PhotoDesign.

DESIGN AWARDS OF MERIT: NEW CONSTRUCTION

River House, Bath Springs, Tenn., by Looney Ricks Kiss Architects
Maximizing every inch, this house pulls function, construction economy, and indoor/outdoor relationships together in a simple, yet engaging form. In just over 1,500 square feet, this second home lives much larger than its physical size would seem to indicate. The main structure is supported on reinforced concrete piers, which provide ground floor space for vehicles, outdoor bath/shower, and storage, while the main living quarters are located above. With the floor level at more than 30 feet above grade, the viewing loft on the uppermost level provides a unique perspective of the surrounding landscape. The jurors appreciated the references to understated vernacular building types that were incorporated into the design of this residence. They thought the simple forms, functional layout, and straightforward detailing were nicely complemented through the use of a limited palette of utilitarian materials.
Photo © Terry Sweeney.

GE5 Townhomes, Memphis, by archimania
This design, an infill project located in a former parking lot on the edge of a historic district, is composed of five three-story live-work units. One of the major goals of the project was to blend carefully the new edifice with the existing traditional architecture of the area. The exterior of polished CMU has been punctuated with galvanized metal bays of aluminum and glass storefront. The ground floor of each unit is designed as a flexible space that could be used as a media room, a small residential office, or a separate 1,000-square-foot retail space. The jurors found this design to be a careful and deliberate flirtation between modern and historic architecture, one that seamlessly captured the playful interchange between old and new. They felt that the elevation fronting the street, with its 20-foot-wide bays, successfully responded to the adjacent buildings in the historic district.
Photo © 2005, Jeffrey Jacobs Photography.

DESIGN AWARD OF MERIT: UNBUILT

City Hall Renovation, Memphis, by Haizlip Studio
The proposed renovation and additions to the Memphis City Hall lobby and public spaces was part of a city government, public arts, and architect collaboration. The program called for a renovation to transform the lobby of city hall into a public space that would speak to the values, culture, and history of the city while enhancing the existing architecture. To achieve this, a collaborative team of artists and architects met over a period of six months to discuss improvements to city hall. This project is the culmination of those ideas. The jury appreciated the dynamic visual imagery that was proposed for the renovation and how a variety of graphic media was employed to emphasize the role of diversity in the creation of a strong community. They commented on the artful use of iconic images to highlight the social and cultural events that have helped to define this city and how they were skillfully integrated into the early-Modernist aesthetic of the original structure.
Graphic produced and rendered by Joshua Jackson.

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