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Projects   Project Portfolio – February 2006
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Bridges Center

Memphis
buildingstudio

Buildingstudio designs a modern community space, Bridges Center, that helps mend social divides in Memphis


Photo © Timothy Hursley
   

By James Roper

The new headquarters for BRIDGES, a Memphis-based nonprofit that helps promote local community and racial cohesion, could have been just another “big-box building” sitting next to its parking lot. After all, to accommodate the client’s request for 120 parking spaces for staff and guests meant that more than half the building site in downtown Memphis would have to be covered with asphalt.

But the design team, from Memphis’s buildingstudio, avoided such a “conventional suburban solution” by putting the parking lot on the roof, with an inclined parking ramp helping to give the building its form, says principal Coleman Coker. Such innovative design schemes, it turns out, are commonplace in this remarkably dynamic, yet still contextual building.

The client, BRIDGES, traces its history of youth advocacy back more than 80 years to a program started by the Episcopal church. One of its most important goals is to bring together high school students, both white and African-American, for a variety of activities to encourage understanding and cooperation between the races. BRIDGES also helps teach individuals how to take responsibility for their actions, face challenges with confidence, and work toward common goals for the community.

The 2.7-acre site, located in the city’s oldest neighborhood, Greenlaw, has about 325 feet fronting each surrounding street. As with many urban neighborhoods, the area had gone into decline but has lately begun to experience a rebirth. BRIDGES deliberately chose the site for its headquarters as a sign of its commitment to the inner city.

James R. Boyd, president of BRIDGES, says the group gave the architects a list of its aims for the building, including a focus on both local children and the neighborhood. The building also had to respect the environment and have flexible spaces, which could be used for many purposes. Not least, Coker points out, the 53,000-square-foot project had to be distinctive.

The new headquarters, which takes up an entire city block, is composed of two wings organized around a wedge-shaped open plaza that extends the length of the property. An open breezeway, framed by a bridge connecting the parking decks on top of the two wings, separates a pool from a grassy area that doubles as an ampitheater. The amphitheater’s sloped surface provides seating for 1,000 people.

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the People

Owner
BRIDGES, Inc. www.bridgesusa.org

Architect
buildingstudio
431 South Main Street 2nd Floor
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
901 527 3086 phone
901 527 3025 fax
www.buildingstudio.net

Coleman Coker, Jonathan Tate, David Dieckhoff, Christopher Schmidt, Anastasia Laurenzi, Carl Batton Kennon, Collette Reid

Engineer(s)
Structural:
Guy Nordenson and Associates

M/E/P/FP design engineer:
Arup, New York www.arup.com

Civil engineer & landscape architect:
ETI Corporation www.eticorp.com

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
ETI Corporation www.eticorp.com

Lighting:
Arup, New York (design) www.arup.com

Photovoltaic design:
Sunwize Technologies www.sunwize.com

Climbing wall:
Entre Prises USA www.epusa.com

High ropes course:
Project Adventure www.pa.org

Boardroom furnishings:
Fletcher Cox

Donor recognition artwork:
Terri Jones

Office furniture selection:
Hope Wilkinson

General contractor
Jameson Gibson Construction Co., Inc., Larry L. Smith, Vice-President-in-Charge www.jamesongibson.com

Photographer(s)
Timothy Hursley 501-372-0640

the Products

Structural system
Auger-cast pile foundation; structural steel columns; cast-in-place concrete structural elevated slab and sheer walls; steel truss wall and roof system (gathering room)

Exterior cladding
Metal/glass curtainwall:
US Aluminum (storefront and curtain wall) www.usalum.com

Concrete:
Cast-in-place structural walls

EIFS, ACM, or other:
Dal-Tile Corporation (ceramic tile walls) www.daltile.com

Roofing
Elastomeric:
Carlisle Corporation (at garden roof)

Metal:
MBCI (metal roofing) www.mbci.com

Other:
Sonneborn (parking area waterproofing)

Glazing
Glass:
PPG Industries www.ppg.com

Insulated-panel or plastic glazing:
Polygal USA www.polygalusa.com

Doors
Entrances:
US Aluminum www.usalum.com

Metal doors:
Ceco www.cecodoor.com

Wood doors:
VT Industries www.vtindustries.com

Hardware
Locksets:
Schlage www.schlage.com

Hinges:
Hager www.hagerhinge.com

Closers:
LCN www.lcnclosers.com

Pulls:
Stanley www.stanleyhardware.com

Interior finishes
Demountable partitions:
Holcomb & Hoke (operable walls) www.foldoor.com

Cabinetwork and custom woodwork:
- Fletcher Cox
PO Box 188
Tougaloo, MS 39174-0188
(boardroom custom woodwork)
- Advance Manufacturing, Co.
(millwork fabricators) www.advance-manufacturing.com

Paints and stains:
- Sherwin Williams, Harmony Low-VOC (interior paint and stains) www.sherwin-williams.com
- Tnemec (exterior steel) www.tnemec.com

Paneling:
Teragren (bamboo walls in boardroom), www.teragren.com

Floor and wall tile:
Dal-Tile Corporation floor and walls at public areas and bathrooms) www.daltile.com

Carpet:
Interface, Inc. www.interfaceinc.com

Wood Floors:
Smith & Fong Plyboo (bamboo flooring in boardroom) www.plyboo.com

Furnishings
Office furniture:
Herman Miller (office systems) www.hermanmiller.com

Reception furniture - Custom:
- buildingstudio (design) www.buildingstudio.net
- Advance Manufacturing (fabrication) www.advance-manufacturing.com

Other furniture:
Fletcher Cox, designer and fabricator (boardroom conference table and credenza)

Lighting
Controls:
General Electric (lighting control system) www.ge.com

Conveyance
Elevators/Escalators:
ThyssennKrupp Elevator Corporation www.thyssenkruppelevator.com

Plumbing
Dornbracht www.dornbracht.com; ProFlow www.proflowdesign.com

Other
Solar Water Heaters:
Thermomax Technologies www.thermomax.com

Photovoltaic Panels:
Sharp Electronics Corporation www.sharpusa.com

Building Control Systems:
Siemens www.siemens.com

 
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