Photo illustration by Michael McMullan/The Commercial Appeal

Winners at the American Institute of Architects awards include (clockwise from top left) the Lewis-Markell residence, the Tabor Orthopedics building, the Orange House, the Sutherland Cardiology Clinic, the DOGone House and the Wurzburg Retreat.

Richard Mandelkorn/Special to The Commercial Appeal

TRO Jung/Brannen received an American Institute of Architects citation for their work on the interior of The Microsoft Startup Labs in Cambridge, Mass.

The judges heaped praise and top honors for the brilliant way John Harrison Jones Architect updated a house designed by a legend of Memphis architecture.

But that high-pitched whir heard in far East Memphis Saturday night was archimania vacuuming up yet again, this time capturing 71 percent of the design awards.

Maybe the strongest sign yet that archimania has become the “it” firm in town for its hip, modern styles: Even a doghouse it designed fetched an honor.

American Institute of Architects (AIA) Memphis handed out its 2010 Design Awards during the Celebration of Architecture Gala at Opera Memphis.

Firms submitted 33 projects to a jury of four Minneapolis architects. The awards, from highest to lowest, are Honor Award of Excellence, Merit Award, and Citation.

The winners:

John Harrison Jones received an Honor Award of Excellence for his renovation of the Lewis-Markell residence. One of Memphis’s great architects, Francis Gassner, designed the mid-century modern house, built 49 years ago behind Christ United Methodist Church. (3,500 sf; $250,000).

archimania received an Honor Award of Excellence for transforming a bland, former State Farm office into a sleek, light-filled space for Tabor Orthopedics. It’s on Primacy Parkway near St. Francis Hospital. (16,327 sf; $1.5 million).

archimania received two merit awards for new construction. One is for its “Orange House” residence in Harbor Town (2,833 sf; $285,616), and the other for the Wurzburg Retreat house overlooking a lake in Savannah, Tenn. (4,829 sf; $1.6 million).

archimania received two citations. One is for its interior design of Sutherland Cardiology Clinic on Wolf River Boulevard. (50,000 sf; $8.5 million). The other is for a doghouse it designed for Memphis Area Golden Retriever Rescue and Weimaraner Rescue of the South. (11.25 sf; $1,554)

And TRO Jung/Brannen, which has a Memphis office, received a citation for its interior of Microsoft Startup Labs in Cambridge, Mass. (40,000 sf; cost not available).

In this harsh economy, it’s no coincidence that Jones and archimania grabbed the top awards for renovations.

“Given the economy, the jury was really sensitive to projects that take something that probably wouldn’t normally be saved and make something good of it,” said juror Jennifer Yoos.

The judges loved how Jones’ renovation of the Lewis-Markell house respected Gassner’s original design, yet made it even better.

Redecorating projects over the years clouded the “clarity” of Gassner’s design of the single-story house.

Jones moved the kitchen from an exterior wall, floated it under the ceiling and opened it up to living areas. He moved the house’s entire pathway along the length of the exterior wall, a move that visually links the length of the house, expands the ceiling, and creates a feeling of “spatial movement.”

“The renovation seems new and fresh, but is so respectful of this mid-century modern language,” the jurors state in written comments.

One juror even called Jones’ renovation “prototypical.”

“Mid-century homes sit on such nice land. So many people are renewing these homes and repositioning them for 21st Century life. This project should be exalted as an example… for what it can do. Show how an architect can make our existing stock rewarding for us,” the juror states.

Similarly, the judges held up archimania’s renovation for Tabor Orthopedics as a shining example for how untold thousands of bland, aging office buildings around the nation can be turned into something special.

The nondescript, 19-year-old former insurance office was so boring you wouldn’t want it in your neighborhood, one juror said.

Archimania turned traditional ideas upside-down, like using wood flooring on both ceilings and walls to create warmth.

The old parking garage was remade into a light-filled, sleek waiting room, with windows onto a walled courtyard. Patients’ views are shielded from the sprawling commercial district outside.

“A lot of these buildings exist in our urban or ex-urban fabric, and it shows how we can recycle worthy bones of buildings into new life…,” one juror states.

And the doghouse?

A matchbox inspired the design comprising an outer wrapper and inner box.

Archimania repeatedly folds a single sheet of shiny steel to create the protective cover that resembles a traditional gabled doghouse. Sliding in and out is an inner wood box that creates a warmer, softer living environment for Fido.

The concept allows the box to be removed for easy cleaning.

The jurors were almost apologetic for comparing the doghouse to larger projects. But it was so good, they couldn’t resist.

One juror likened the doghouse to “a fine piece of furniture or some other fine singular thing envisioned and then executed.”

Some even thought the design concept could be used on a larger scale. “It has very poetic moments of maintenance, performance, and changeability,” the juror wrote.

AIA Memphis has now honored archimania with 10 excellence, five honor, and 13 merit awards.

– Tom Bailey Jr.: 529 2388

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