Civitas Architectural Tour

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

4:00pm Home Tour

Civitas (Yoakum Residence)

Address will be provided 

to registrants

5:00pm Happy Hour

GrindCity Brewing

76 Waterworks Avenue

Emerging Professionals Only

(AIA Associate members and those within 10 years of licensure)

Limit: 20 guests

Civitas is the first Zero Energy and Zero Carbon building in the world to achieve ILFI certification, and is certified LEED Platinum for Homes.

The architect/owner wanted to design a progressive single-family home that represents the values of his family of three while opening up the design process firm-wide to support learning and experimentation in design, construction and operation. Sited to frame a magnificent view of the Mississippi River and delta beyond, it relates in comparable scale and simplified massing to its traditional surroundings.

Why Civitas? The name Civitas, translated as “community”, was given to represent the family’s desire to create a meaningful family experience through connected spatial relationships, transparency, and material continuity. While producing all the same expressive elements of its new urbanist neighbors, Civitas introduces a new composition of material and transparency while reframing the spatial and architectural expectations of an environmentally responsible house. The architect, aligned with his family, challenged the teams to integrate healthy, resilient, high-performance, and sustainable strategies to achieve the design framework for a 200-year design life cycle. 

Photo © Alan Karchmer/OTTO