Paper & Clay: Ceramics Studio and Retail Shop

525 S Main St, Memphis, TN 38103, Memphis, Tennessee 38120 United States

Building Area (sf): 1600 sf

Completion: August 23, 2020

Architect of Record:

TAXA Projects

Trey Kirk

• Owner/Client:
• General Contractor: Crone Construction INC
• Electrical:
• Engineering:
  
• Other:
  
• Photography:
  5- The Retail Shop is sandwiched between the exterior Main Street storefront and the interior clerestory of the Ceramics Studio. Photo by Trey Kirk.
  
  6- The Retail Shop. Photo by Trey Kirk.
  
  7- The Open Studio/Workshop. Photo by Trey Kirk.
  
  8- The Packaging & Shipping Corridor. Photo by Trey Kirk.
  
  9- The Glazing Area (Kiln Room). Photo by Trey Kirk.
  
  10- Retail Shop Millwork. Photo by Trey Kirk.
  

Paper & Clay is a growing, Memphis-based ceramics studio which needed to immediately double its studio and kiln space due to client demand and complications related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The owner’s original space was an 800 SF shotgun containing Retail, Studio, Kilns, and Boxing Stations for Packing/Shipping; a single room with overlapping functions. As we studied how to scale the program up to 1600 SF (double), it became clear that each program area could be conceived to function more typologically: for quality of light, dust management, noise mitigation, and temperature control. The end result was 4 distinct zones which preserve necessary adjacencies, while utilizing different wall strategies for highly-specific performance.

Paper & Clay is a growing, Memphis-based ceramics studio which needed to immediately double its studio and kiln space due to client demand and complications related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With limited budget, and the owner’s commitment to urban renewal, we studied a blighted tenant space on Main Street (23’ x 70’) which was eligible for a Tenant Improvement Grant of $30,000.

The owner’s original space was an 800 SF shotgun containing Retail, Studio, Kilns, and Boxing Stations for Packing/Shipping. The owner had their business practice down to a science, yet was operating out of a single room with overlapping functions. As we studied how to scale the program up to 1600 SF (double), it became clear that each program area could be conceived to function more typologically: for quality of light, dust management, noise mitigation, and temperature control. The end result was 4 distinct zones which preserve necessary adjacencies, while utilizing different wall strategies for highly-specific performance.

The first zone is the public-facing Retail Gallery, which spans the full 23’ storefront to maximize street presence of the display. At over 300 SF, this zone provides the necessary floor area and wall space for presentation of the client’s work, and ambulation of guests.

So not to hog natural light and skylit views of downtown, a partition wall with a generous (5' x 20') glass clerestory forms the back Retail display, allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the spaces beyond. With Retail as a buffer from busy Main Street, noise and street distractions are mitigated for the Operational Spaces beyond. Likewise, this wall serves to prevent dust and workshop debris from entering the Retail space and contaminating products.

The clerestory Studio Space is the heart of the project and functions as the primary space of production. At 500 SF it is large enough to support all of the tooling and storage needs of the owner, while leaving enough open space to comfortably hold classes and demonstrations. The Studio’s tile floors contain a series of floor drains and a mess sink for easy clean-up.

A Packaging & Shipping Corridor flanks the Studio Space opposite a demising wall. This “spine of logistics” (on axis with the Retail door), contains all the Back-of-House functions, workstations, and shipping operations. The corridor functions as an assembly line for ID’ing inventory, registering, packing, labeling, and boxing product for delivery. It has a different lighting scheme and separate temperature control from the Retail Shop.

Lastly, the Kiln Room (located off the Studio) is insulated in a double-wythe concrete block wall, which helps to keep excess heat from migrating through to the neighboring spaces. A partially-glazed overhead door provides easy access to the back courtyard for loading and unloading, while also offering natural light to inspect newly fired pieces. It was important to keep this space large enough to support two 3000W Kilns, while not being so large that it set off additional fire protection requirements, which were not within budget.

For the owner, the project has been transformative, as it has mobilized a new interior scale and “uncoupled” the overlapping functions of her old space. Because the cost of furnishing new equipment was so significant, the budget for construction was under $40,000 ($25/SF). While the interior architecture is visibly “naked”, the scale, configuration, and qualities of light in the new space have aligned the business with its spatial and typological needs. Rather than high-end finishes and eccentric geometries, the business’s interior typologies “become” the material character of the project. Akin to the Owner's ceramics collections, the interior is now a series of distinct and beautiful spaces, which are ethereal, yet highly specified.