Civitas is a 2798 sq. ft. single-family dwelling located on a relatively small, greenfield site on the banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee.
Civitas, translated as “community”, was given to represent the family’s desire to create a meaningful experience with each other and the neighborhood through connected spatial relationships, transparency, and the making of place. The project expands how the architects think about “home”, employing design strategies that look outward to the greater community to benefit the many.
This is accomplished through a number of moves including a transparent and tunable first floor, visually evoking a sense of wonder and curiosity by dissolving the spaces between private and public.
Throughout the design process the owner and design team encouraged an open dialogue with the community around traditional and progressive notions of the city, community, and home. The fabric of surrounding vernacular-styled residences becomes a benefit to expressive character.
From the outset, the design team chose the guiding principles from the AIA Committee on the Environment to set robust sustainability goals for equitable solutions, conservation and reclamation, onsite renewables, wellness and health, change and adaptability.
The home serves as a living laboratory and immersive tool for experimental thinking, providing performance data which, analyzed over time and through evolving conditions, reveals a broad application of high performance design strategies for a wide range of typologies and scales. Climate resiliency was also critical as the site is susceptible to flooding, severe weather, and ongoing activity from the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Civitas prioritizes clean energy with no fossil fuels sourced, producing more energy from onsite renewable than it consumes selling the excess back to the grid or charging of electric vehicles.
Civitas demonstrates a new perspective on integrating design, construction, and inhabitation globally. With a 200-year design life cycle, it will evolve and adapt to the way future occupants live and to a changing environment. It is a place of learning and inspiration as it advances the dialogue between homeowners and the profession as the architects move towards a carbon-neutral world.
Year:2019Location:Memphis, Tennessee, USAArchitects:archimaniaClient: Barry and Kathy YoakumPhotographer: Alan Karchmer, OTTO
