Orion FCU - Poplar Avenue
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Architecture
Interior Design
Site Planning -
Enhanced Site Accessibility
Habitat Restoration
Heat Island Effect Mitigation
Light Pollution Reduction
Low Maintenance Materials
Passive Building Envelope
Permeable Surface Expansion
Rainwater Management*LEED Silver Certified
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Completed November 2016
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Memphis, Tennessee
Replacing an abandoned gas station with a neighborhood-friendly credit union branch embodying the company’s brand of openness, hospitality, and community involvement.
The building animates a small corner lot within a growing Memphis neighborhood in Memphis’ medical district. The linking of materials and spaces to the landscape and the landscape to the neighborhood creates a larger impact for a smaller building, and a connection between an institution and the community it serves.
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The design strategy uses bands of material (concrete, tile, carpet, plantings) on the ground plane that stretch across the site, inside and outside the building. The building massing creates two volumes linked to two covered exterior spaces. The volumes, one open glazed banking hall, and one more enclosed support structure, slide past each other along the site's bands. The open glazed volume is positioned closer to the street corner, addressing the intersection and welcoming pedestrians. The closed volume slides away from the street, creating a pocket park between the parking area and the covered building entry. The closed volume's canopy creates a space for drive-through banking. An undulating zinc panel system traces the outlines of the interior and exterior building volumes and touches down once at the corner of the open banking hall. Brick forms support the curtain and create a variety of interaction spaces from inside to out.
