REGENERATIVE RENOVATION\nArchimania reimagined an\nexisting pair of low-slung\ncommercial buildings (top) as\na new office and a test-case in\nsustainability (above). SIDE BY SIDE\nThe two buildings\nreceived the same passive\nsustainability treatments,\nbut by using conventional\nsystems in the smaller\nstructure, Archimania\ntested its office\u2019s solar,\ngeothermal, and energy\nmanagement technology\nagainst a baseline. COURTESY ARCHIMANIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe designers employed these passive strategies on both their office and the neighboring smaller building, currently leased to an advertising agency. But while the Archimania office also got a geothermal HVAC system, a solar array, and a lighting system that responds to building occupancy, its neighbor has conventional systems. Withholding the most innovative systems from the second building allows the firm to use it as the \u201ccontrol\u201d in its ongoing experiments with carbon-neutral design. \u201cWe talk to clients all the time about doing these things and they always ask us, \u2018Well, how does this compare? How is this better, not just for the environment, but for utility cost or up-front cost? What does it take to maintain a building with geothermal energy?\u2019 All these things. And so we said, \u2018Let\u2019s treat [our buildings] as a case study,\u2019 \u201d Walker says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Davis agrees that the side-by-side comparison helps sell clients on green building technology: \u201cInstead of trying to explain it all with a high-level detail, you literally can say, \u2018Come to our office and let me show you.\u2019 \u201d One of the most impressive things they can show clients is an estimated 9.7-year return on investment for the comprehensive energy saving strategies including geothermal and solar systems, part of which are supported by tax incentives. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLET THE LIGHT IN\nEvery workstation in the office\nhas a view to the landscape\noutside, and light wells let\nnatural light into the core of the\nbuilding. Interior furnishings\nwere made of locally sourced\nplywood, further cutting the\nproject\u2019s carbon footprint. COURTESY ARCHIMANIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOutside of the building, they can point to changes they\u2019ve made to reverse the impact of the neighborhood\u2019s car-centric history. \u201cThe site was 98 percent asphalt,\u201d recalls Davis. \u201cThere was a little landscape strip out front that had some overgrown hedges in it and everything was parking.\u201d To build connections to the adjacent residential neighborhood, to potential new businesses along South Cooper, and anticipate new modes of transportation along the corridor, they ripped up a quarter of the existing paving to plant gardens and create a community courtyard of crushed stone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making those physical connections to the rest of the neighborhood is crucial to the project\u2019s larger impact. Both Davis and Walker envision those plans and outdoor interventions as a test of what they\u2019ve started calling \u201cCarbon Neutral Corridors.\u201d In the future, they envision developing a multi-unit residential project on the same parcel to further make the case that carbon-neutral mixed use can happen in a low-rise neighborhood and activate the area around the clock. \u201cIf we can create this better urban place and this more walkable street, maybe we can attract other businesses and building owners to change their thinking about how they\u2019re using the building, how they activate the street, ultimately maybe they develop the older building stock to be better,\u201d explains Walker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, Archimania\u2019s sphere of control extends only to the property line, and to transform South Cooper into the kind of vibrant, walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented thoroughfare the designers have imagined, they\u2019ll need help from the city. But there are signs of progress: After the office opened, bike lanes appeared on South Cooper Street. \u201cThe opportunity there is not just to tear stuff down and come in with new construction and big apartment buildings. There\u2019s actually a way to maintain the identity of these communities and to further grow these communities in a healthy way,\u201d says Davis, who points out that in Memphis alone, there are probably 27 or 28 more miles of similar corridors that could be reimagined to improve walkability, connectivity, resilience, and sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the subject of change, Walker takes the long view: \u201c[The question is] How do we see this advancing over the next 40 years? It\u2019s really tough to look at this short-term, if you think you\u2019re going to accomplish a big-scale change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nPrev<\/button>Next<\/button><\/div>SLIDING DOOR\nA perforated metal gate secures the\ncourtyard. Visibility to the street was\nimportant to creating a sense of\nopenness and neighborhood connection. COURTESY ARCHIMANIA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>OUTDOOR OFFICE\nA benefit of this location was a chance to give staff outdoor space. In a central courtyard water-permeable gravel and trees replaced the asphalt of a parking lot. COURTESY ARCHIMANIA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>COURTESY ARCHIMANIA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n