Title: Frontline Townhomes
Location of Proejct: Memphis, Tennessee
Project Completion Date: March 2020
Firm Name: archimania

Short Description: The removal of a dilapidated industrial warehouse and storage building over a city block to create an urban townhome community with green space, offering a variety of urban conditions. The design presents the street and residents with undulating, dynamic facades that drastically change with solar conditions. This brings ambiguity to the often-unitized nature of multi-family design.

Architect's Statement: The project is situated on a 1.25-acre site between an arts district and the Mississippi River in a gritty, post-industrial area. The dense, economical site layout is organized into three distinct rows, each with unique relationships to exterior space and the city.

The building is clad in economical vertical box-rib metal inspired by the simple durability of industrial materials. Box-rib widths vary by level, adding a layer of textural detail, transitioning to board and batten siding at secondary elevations. The primary facades of the building sawtooth for the practical purpose of creating covered entries below and balconies/bay windows above. As a result, the design presents the street and residents with undulating, dynamic facades that drastically change with solar conditions. This brings ambiguity to the often-unitized nature of multi-family design. The angled projections orient windows away from neighbors and to the north, providing relief from solar gain.

All units contain a semi-private entry stoop, vertical 9’ tall windows, and an enclosed garage. The row of homes facing Front Street offers elevated entry stoops adjacent to open space, framed by the elevated railroad. The second two rows are split by a 27’ wide exterior space, utilized as an urban garden retreat for residents with extensive landscaping and stair access to an elevated dog walk taking advantage of the railroad overpass. Many units contain a private exterior space in the form of either a balcony or third level multi-purpose room and roof deck that extends on the upper massing of each unit.

Privacy, security, and maintenance were of utmost importance to the developer focusing on sales to young professionals and empty-nesters. This was the first “new product” for sale downtown of more than 4 or 5 units since the recession, so the developer was cautious, and the budget was low.