Edge Motor Museum

645 Marshall Ave., Memphis, TN 38103 United States

Building Area (sf): 12,972 sf

Completion: Feb. 2019

Architect of Record:

designshop, pllc

Scott Guidry, RA
Tim Michael, AIA

• Owner/Client:
• General Contractor: Montgomery Martin Contractors
• Electrical: Fowler Engineering (Structural)
  Burns Engineering (Electrical)
  Gala Engineering (Mechanical)
  Clear Advantage Lighting (Ben Avant)
  
• Engineering:
  
• Other:
  
• Photography:
  firm
  

Located within yards of historic Sun Studio, Edge Motor Museum breathes new life into a long-overlooked portion of Memphis known as “The Edge”. The new museum occupies a former car assembly factory/showroom that was more recently used to produce potato chips. The museum highlights the best aspects of the existing building with an infusion of new architecture to draw visitors to the ever-changing exhibit of automobiles.

Our client first approached us with a request to help him with a “warehouse to park cars”. After several conversations, it became clear that his passion for the history and storytelling of the automobile and its impact on American culture warranted a special place for these stories and the cars behind them. As such, the place had to be more than simply a warehouse in which to park cars.

Edge Motor Museum exemplifies adaptive re-use through the insertion of new architecture within an existing shell building with a beautifully historic terra cotta façade. The museum design was governed by 6 primary goals/ideas: Treat cars as works of art, Create clean surfaces without articulation, Use white as a neutral backdrop, Highlight qualities of existing building, Resist anything flashy, and Gracefully transition between levels. The existing building is spread between two levels: a smaller, upper street level and larger lower level. A diagram was developed treating the upper level as lobby exhibition before compressing the space at the ticket counter. Visitors are guided through the space by a continuous wall originating within the lobby and running alongside a sweeping ramp. Its wall surface graphically relates to the current exhibit while simultaneously serving as an indirect light source through heavy illumination. Opposite this wall, a glass guardrail offers greater views of the automobiles as one moves down the ramp. At the lower floor, cars are positioned in a circular array around a central turntable. White walls serve as a neutral backdrop, allowing the cars to viewed as paintings in a museum. Overhead, the existing steel roof trusses are exposed in juxtaposition to the precise white walls below. A members’ mezzanine occupies this truss zone as its leading edge is sculpted to the geometry of the display floor below. The detail shop is nestled behind an existing brick wall, allowing visitors views into the extensive detailing process before cars are put on display.

The building’s primary exterior façade of glazed terra cotta was preserved and restored. With new lighting and glazing, the building now stands as a beacon among the various mundane automotive garages lining the street. Its relationship with Sun Studios has been wildly successful with each benefitting the other as they serve as anchors in revitalizing the Edge District.