Warm Floors & Open Doors
Last year, the first phase of the Memphis Union Mission Opportunity Center, a men’s emergency shelter in the heart of downtown Memphis, was completed. Phase I provided key services necessary for operations, including a new guest check-in area, dressing and shower complex, laundry, walk-in cooler and freezers, kitchen, dining room, volunteer reception and recovery program areas. This phase received the 2022 Community Impact Award at the Memphis Business Journal’s Building Memphis Awards.
Phase II for the new Opportunity Center is now underway! Phase II will include a dedicated chapel, with seating for 350 guests and volunteers, two pastoral offices and prayer room. Capacity will be increased by an additional 118 beds, bringing the total bed capacity of the Opportunity Center to 350+. The supportive services wing will provide for medical, educational, case management and other important services to assist guests in breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty.
Like Phase I, Phase II is designed with energy-efficiency in mind. This facility was includes radiant floor heating (a series of tubes embedded into the concrete slab when poured) to continuously pump and carry heated water through the floor. Using this system can provide heat and temperature control throughout the main floor of the building and decreases the overall HVAC load. Radiant floor heating is energy efficient, heats the building when needed, and provides a comfortable way to accommodate on overflow of guests on a cold night.
“By utilizing the underslab heating system along with other energy saving building features, the overall utility usage of the facility has been reduced dramatically. This reduction in utility resources and expenditures being invested in running the facility, can be re-invested into directly helping the guests and helps to reduce the overall burden on the community energy resources,” says lead Architect Tim Ogburn. “The radiant floor heating aspect of this project was a first of it’s kind for Memphis. Local contractors Linkous Construction and W.A. Soefker & Sons, Inc. both stepped up to make this install go as smoothly as possible.”
The photos above show the radiant floor heating system before the concrete was poured. Substantial completion of Phase II is anticipated for late January 2023.