Gillespies

The Chisca on Main

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

THE CHISCA ON MAIN

Bounds & Gillespie Architects, Looney Ricks Kiss

ARCHITECTS
Bounds & Gillespie Architects, Looney Ricks Kiss

AREA
300000 ft²

YEAR
2016

ARCHITECT OF RECORD
Bounds and Gillespie

MANUFACTURERS
Assa Abloy, EFCO, GAF, Graham Architectural Products, Hager, Johns Manville, Kone, PPG Paints, Plaka, Schlage, Shaw, Sherwin-Williams, Sloan Valve Company, Trane, Trulite, WASCO Skylights, AAON, Baron, Earthwerks, Geofoam, +8

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Frank Ricks, Tony Pellicciotti, Krissy Buck Flickinger, Lloyd Paul, Lauren Tolbert, Danny Bounds, Dusty Driver

INTERIOR DESIGN
Carkuff Interior Design

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
DePouw Engineering

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Kersey Wike & Associates

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Montgomery Martin Contractors

LEAD/DESIGN ARCHITECT
Looney Ricks Kiss

DEVELOPER
Main Street Apartment Partners

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Davis Patrikios Criswell

MECHANICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEERING
Herschel L. Powell & Associates

LOCATION
MEMPHIS, UNITED STATES

FAÇADE RESTORATION
Elstner Associates, Wiss Janney Elstner Associates

CATEGORY
Hotels, Renovation

Text description provided by architect.

The renovation of the historic Hotel Chisca, located on Main Street, is a uniquely transformative project, bridging a major gap in the urban streetscape between the South Main Historic District, legendary Beale Street, and downtown Memphis.

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

From Chisca’s opening day in 1913, to making rock-n-roll history inside its second-floor radio studio that introduced Elvis to the world in 1954, to its Mid-Century modern addition in 1961, to its conversion into a church headquarters in 197 3, to 25 years of abandonment, and finally to its 2016 rebirth as edgy and chic downtown apartments – it is this inherent multi-layered historic quality that attracts visitors and residents alike.

When commissioned in 2011 to evaluate the feasibility of rehabilitation, the design team found a building in steep decline. The basement held three feet of stagnant water causing areas of structural failure. 

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

The ballroom featured ponding water that had become a dangerous wetland, complete with water fowl and a 25-foot waterfall tenuously supporting a failing roof structure.

The penthouse roof structure had collapsed, and the developer believed the 1961 motor lodge addition should be demolished in favor of a surface parking lot.

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

The design team recognized that realizing the project’s restorative community value would require balancing the building’s historic character with budget-conscious design. The focus began with repositioning this blighted block to foster the connection between the thriving arts district and the downtown core.

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

This city-building focus also progressed into a reanalysis of the developer’s desire to remove the 1961 addition and a focus on creating an amenity rich environment that embraced the historic hotel functions.

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

Restoring and improving the 1961 addition to better reflect its architectural style thus became a key design feature. Southern facing apartment patios, each with a wood louvered brise soleil, pay homage to the historic checkerboard pattern of the motel’s exterior walkways.

The first floor of the 1911 building, once the hotel’s main lobby with 17-foot ceilings, houses lofted apartment units, an event space, and two successful restaurants.

The second floor grand ballroom was demolished to create an elevated, outdoor urban courtyard amenity space.

One-hundred-sixty-one apartments, the two restaurants, and a multitude of amenity areas have transformed the site into a fully occupied, market-leading historic rehabilitation project.

The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

The most dramatic, yet simple design strokes consisted of surgically extracting the ballroom ruins to create an urban rooftop oasis and the elegant transformation of the maligned mid-century modern addition into an effective market catalyst - all within the National Park Service’s Historic Tax Credit guidelines.


The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West


The Chisca on Main
Apartment types
The Chisca on Main
Building plan
The Chisca on Main
1A unit floor plan


The Chisca on Main
1B unit floor plan
The Chisca on Main
2A unit floor plan
The Chisca on Main
2B unit floor plan
The Chisca on Main
© Ken West

Gillespies
T +44 20 72532929
Gillespies
1st Floor, 16 Laystall St, London EC1R 4PF, United Kingdom