Local architecture group
archimania's new headquarters are being relocated a little further down Main St., but the firm is making massive strides in energy-efficient building.
The 5,000-square-foot office and six accompanying LEED-certified apartments will mark the first two
Net Zero Energy buildings in Tennessee. Innovative features including roof solar cells, continuous insulation, water collection facilities and a minimal amount of glass facing east and west will all contribute to a footprint that creates more energy than it consumes.
"We're investing almost $150,000 in being a small utility company. We feed the power to MLGW, and they distribute it," said Barry Yoakum, archimania Principal. Yoakum expects that the building's energy-producing measures will repay that investment within eight years.
Recent estimations show that the building will use 48,288 kilowatts per hour per year. Through a partnership with Nashville-based
LightWave Solar, solar power use will displace 62,500 kilowatts. For comparison, the energy that archimania will contribute back to the grid is around 2 percent of Memphis' peak electricity usage of 703 megawatts, according to reports by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
archimania's headquarters, playfully dubbed archimaniaville, will be one of the country's first privately owned Net Zero Energy multiuse buildings. The firm is making further commitments to the sustainability of the greater community by linking the southernmost point of South Main to the more developed South Main Arts District. There will be opportunities for art openings, performances and parkside congregations. The
National Ornamental Metal Museum is designing an "arresting" art object that will signal to passersby that "this is the place to stop," Yoakum added.
"We're very collaborative, very social beings here. Building the space responds to that interconnectivity," Yoakum said.
The new headquarters will also stand at the gateway to the
Main Street to Main Street Multi-Modal Connection Project. Once the project is completed, the Harahan Bridge will be converted into a pedestrian path to connect Downtown to West Memphis. And archimania will be there to greet the travelers.
Yoakum said that construction on the site should be starting very soon, with an anticipated opening on July 4 for archimania's 20th anniversary.