Frontline Townhomes, Memphis, Tenn.

by Rosa Soto | 15 July 2021 12:00 am

Archimania used a combination of two, metal box-rib wall panels in its design for Frontline Townhomes. Todd Walker, FAIA, principal at archimania, says, “Box-rib widths vary by level, adding a layer of textural detail, transitioning to board and batten siding at secondary elevations. The primary façades of the building sawtooth for the practical purpose of creating covered entries below, and balconies and bay windows above. As a result, the design presents the street and residents with undulating, dynamic façades that drastically change with solar conditions.”

Angled projections orient windows north, away from neighbors and providing relief from solar gain.

“This brings ambiguity to the often-unitized nature of multifamily design,” Walker says. “A deep box panel was chosen so that dynamic shadows accentuate the undulating angles of the façade and provide a visually seamless transition from flat wall to angled wall.”

Importantly, Frontline Townhomes is in a post-industrial area between an arts district and the Mississippi River. The development is on a 1.25-acre site and comprised of four buildings housing 75,740 square feet. All units contain a semi-private entry stoop, vertical, 9-foot-tall windows and an enclosed garage.

“The dense, economical site layout is organized into three distinct rows, each with unique relationships to exterior space and the city,” Walker says.

Many units contain a private exterior space, either a balcony or third-level multipurpose room and roof deck.

“The row of homes facing Front Street offers elevated entry stoops adjacent to open space, framed by the elevated railroad,” Walker says. “The second two rows are split by a 27-foot-wide exterior space, utilized as an urban garden retreat for residents with landscaping and stair access to an elevated dog walk.”

On the building exteriors, Boshco Custom Sheet Metal LLC installed two of Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp.’s metal wall panels: T10-A and T10-B. The 24-gauge T10-A exposed fastener box rib panels have 1 1/2-inch-high ribs on 4-inch centers. The 24-gauge T10-B exposed fastener box rib panels have 1 1/2-inch-high ribs on 6-inch centers. Both panels have an acrylic-coated Galvalume finish in Old Zinc Grey.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/frontline-townhomes-memphis-tenn/

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