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KNOX HERITAGE ANNOUNCES 2021 EAST TENNESSEE PRESERVATION AWARDS
East Tennessee is a beautiful region that is rich with history and interesting places. Each year, Knox Heritage and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance recognize outstanding persons, projects and organizations working to preserve our heritage for future generations. This year’s award winners were recognized during a virtual ceremony on May 20th.
The City of Knoxville Mayor’s Award was presented to Dover Signature Properties and BarberMcMurry Architects for the restoration of the historic South High School at 835 Tipton Avenue. Dover obtained the property in 2016 after several attempts by others to redevelop the space. It took a year to stabilize the building and two years to renovate the existing building into South High Senior Living.
The Preservation Service Award is presented to Cherel Henderson for her service as the Executive Director of the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) from 2003 until 2020. Cherel joined the ETHS staff in 1987, and was promoted to associate director in 1995 and to executive director in 2003. Over the past 17 years under Cherel’s leadership, ETHS has continued to thrive and grow. Cherel is the founding director of the ETHS Tennessee Bicentennial family heritage program, First Families of Tennessee, which now numbers almost 17,000 members from all over the world. She was also editor of the book First Families of Tennessee: A Register of Early Settlers and Their Present-Day Descendants. Other highlights of her career include the 2004 completion of the East Tennessee History Center’s renovation of the Old Custom House and addition that houses the Museum of East Tennessee History. She also oversaw design and construction of the Museum’s signature exhibition, Voices of the Land, The People of East Tennessee, that opened in 2008.
Knoxville History Project was presented with the Media Award for the recently published Historic Bearden: The 200-Year Story of Knoxville’s Fourth Creek Valley. The 200-page, full-color guidebook written by Jack Neely, edited and image sourced by Paul James and designed by the awarding winning team at Robin Easter Design is a great way to learn more about local history.
Additional award winners include: Reagan Design + Construction and Dgray & Hbogus, LLC for the renovation of 2545 Jefferson Avenue in the Parkridge neighborhood; the City of Knoxville for renovating the Jackson Avenue Ramps; Parkridge Group, LLC and Sanders Pace Architecture for the renovation of 1520 Washington Avenue in the Parkridge neighborhood; Holli McCray and John Verdeaux for the restoration of the 1940 Annandale Manor; The Aslan Foundation and Sanders Pace Architecture for the restoration of seven historic cabins and construction of new structures associated with the newly established Loghaven Artist Residency; Arin Streeter for writing the National Register nomination for the Charles L. Lawhon House in the Morningside neighborhood; Segal Drummond and Sanders Pace Architecture for the renovation of 517 and 519 N. Central Street in the Emory Place Historic District; Axle Logistics and Design Innovation Architects for the renovation of the former Hull and Dobbs building located at 835 N. Central Street; The Aslan Foundation and Sanders Pace Architecture for the restoration of the Candoro Marble Building in the Vestal community; ELST Brewing Company and Sanders Pace Architecture for renovating and adapting two dilapidated 80 year old buildings into a new craft brewery and community gathering space within the Oakwood-Lincoln Park neighborhood; Jim and Lori Klonaris, SK Ballard Contract Interiors and Johnson Architecture, Inc for the renovation and adapted reuse of two floors in the Holston Building into the high-end restaurant and retro cocktail bar, Vida and The Vault; John Sanders for the restoration of Clauss House II located in the Little Switzerland neighborhood; and Sanders Pace Architecture for the renovation of 509 N. Central Street in the Emory Place Historic District.
In addition, the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance presented regional preservation awards to the Claiborne County Historical Society for grant-related repairs to the 1819 Old Claiborne County Jail in Tazewell; KBD, LLC and Brewer Ingram Fuller Architects, Inc for the renovation of the 1907 Building into a brewery, restaurant and event space located in downtown Morristown; Dean and Karen Fontaine for placing Millennium Manor in Alcoa on the National Register of Historic Places; and the Dunbar Rosenwald School Foundation, Inc and Brewer Ingram Fuller Architects, Inc for the restoration of the Dunbar Rosenwald School in Loudon.
Loghaven Artist Residency featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel.
See inside Loghaven, South Knoxville artists’ retreat that won top architectural prize
Ali JamesShopper News
Knoxville-based Sanders Pace Architecture will receive the 2021 American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Award for its design of the 90-acre Loghaven Artist Residency campus, a secluded site of historic log cabins and deep woods in South Knoxville.
It is the highest honor for architecture in the nation, and only one other building in Tennessee ever has won the award, which celebrates the best contemporary architecture — no matter the budget, size, style or type.
Sanders Pace worked alongside the Aslan Foundation, which funded the project, during a six-year planning and design process.
“I don’t think people realize how important the award is,” said Andrea Bailey, Aslan Foundation executive director. “During the history of the award there has only been one other building in all of Tennessee that has won it.”
One of the things that stood out for the campus as a whole is the way the buildings interact with nature and with each other, Aslan Foundation officials told the AIA committee.
“There is this unfolding from one space to the next, the way the studio is perched on a hillside — this old and new — to me, it’s the full package,” Bailey said.
More:Once threatened by developers, South Knoxville’s saved Loghaven becomes artists retreat
More:Want out of the house? Explore South Knoxville history on a driving tour
Artists from across the country — in visual art, dance, music, writing, theater and interdisciplinary work — can stay there. To date, five cabins have been restored, each featuring original logs, a working fireplace, a porch, artist working space and modernized kitchens and bathrooms.
A visual arts studio and performing arts studio are cantilevered structures that extend into the tree canopy and capture views through 8-foot windows.
“The idea is to give the artists an opportunity to get away from their 9-to-5 jobs and focus on their art,” Bailey said. “They not only have the time and resources, but the appropriate studio space.”
Building named for Jim McDonough
Aslan Foundation director and retired architect Jim McDonough died March 6, and to honor his life, the 3,900-square-foot central building was named the McDonough House.
The building serves as the operations center for the residency and is a small multi-disciplinary venue that can accommodate small performances and space and equipment for up to five artists to collaborate.
“There is a kitchen, living and dining room where the artists can come and gather,” Bailey said. “That was important to Jim; I don’t think this project would have happened without him, and it is an important way to honor him.”
McDonough mentioned Loghaven to Sanders Pace Architecture while discussing the 600-acre plan for the Battlefield Loop in 2014.
“I had never heard of it before,” founding partner Brandon Pace said. “Loghaven is in the center of the Battlefield Loop, and there were old cabins that they were looking to restore. And we were hired to make them safe and comfortable.” The project soon expanded beyond rehabilitation.
Pace said that they saw the project as a conversation across eras. “The first era was the development of Native American settlements; the first modern era was Myssie Thompson in the 1930s.”
(To support her family during the Great Depression, Martha “Myssie” Thompson built a nest of rental cabins on the ridgetop she called “the hill.”)
“I said that the next phase should not just be a replication of Myssie Thompson’s era,” Pace said.
Connecting new, historic and natural
“The historic cabins all have a stone base, the same metal roofs; four have round logs, one with hewn logs,” Pace said of the design. “We took that material language and how they related to the site and made everything a little more refined. The buildings are built to meet current energy goals and are heavily insulated with lots of references back to the original structures.”
McDonough was really the design champion, Pace said. “During the process he challenged us not to leave anything unconsidered,” he said. “It is a dream project and a dream client. As a student you never think you’ll get to do this as a professional.”
Michael Davis is a project architect and a lead designer at Sanders Pace Architecture; he’s been involved since the first site work in 2014.
“We looked at the cabins and wondered what the heck we were going to do?” Pace said. “He was the project manager on the digital and performing arts studios, the first phase of the five cabins and the McDonough House.” Davis has just received a Young Architect award as well.
“Lindsay McDonough (Aslan Foundation Board Member) kept saying it’s about the place, not a single building,” Pace said. “She wanted to preserve the character, the trees and the experience of walking down Loghaven drive.”
Sanders Pace removed the ill-conceived additions — decks that were not in keeping with what Myssie Thompson would have done. “She built the cabins some 80 years ago; a lot of the things were structural interventions,” Pace said.
The history of Loghaven is captivating.
“Myssie Thompson did something that would be unusual in this day, much less building a rental community of log cabins during the Great Depression,” Bailey said. “She was a single mother and took part in building some of the cabins herself. She built them with her contractor as she had the funds. She oversaw the rentals until she was about 80.
“The character was there, we just wanted to make sure that character lasts.”
The Loghaven Artists Residency, opened in January 2020, will launch an open call for applications on June 1. Submissions will be accepted from emerging and established artists across the U.S., ages 21 and up.
Free tours of the indoor and outdoor artists spaces will be given at 5:30 p.m. May 13 and May 20 or 9:30 a.m. June 9. Masks and registration required: eventbrite.com/e/loghaven-spring-tours-tickets-153036882435.
More details about the artist residency criteria at loghaven.org/residencies/apply.
Funding for Phase 2 of Augusta Quarry included Mayor’s 2021-2022 Budget
The Shopper News ran an article on May 3 talking about improvements at the South Knoxville site at the center of the Battlefield Loop.
$1 million plan to enhance Augusta Quarry recreation
Ali James, Shopper News
It may not officially be swimming season, but a handful of Augusta Quarry visitors were making the most of the warmer temperatures recently.
When Sheryl Ely, Knoxville Parks and Recreation director, asked two of them how they enjoyed their swim, they laughed and admitted to lasting barely a minute in the icy, deep water. Others were not deterred as they floated in their inflatable rings before the thunderstorms rolled in.
“I was here the other day and I saw lots of out-of-state license plates in the parking lot, including a family from Florida, and someone had strung up a hammock between the trees,” said Ely.
$1 million for Urban Wilderness site
On April 27, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon proposed her 2021-22 budget, and there was one line item that was exciting news for Urban Wilderness enthusiasts. One million dollars has been allocated for phase two of the Augusta Quarry project .
Funding will be used for improving accessibility and safety to the quarry, as well as adding a vendor area and restrooms.
Ely and city Greenways Coordinator Tim Hester met the Shopper News in the parking lot, completed as part of phase one in the fall of 2019.
“People probably won’t see the beginning as it is the infrastructure — water and electricity improvements,” said Ely. “We will also be finding contractors, arranging purchasing and figuring out how we will finalize our plans.”
While Ely did not want to promise a firm start date for the project, she and Hester agreed that design work will really start later in the year.
Kayaks, boardwalk and swimming area
With mostly native landscaping and a formalized park entry and parking area established during phase one, most of the attention will now focus on the water’s edge in this next phase.https://53e3519dac4b58c6f3e3696e76e12369.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
PORT and Sanders Pace Architecture worked with the City of Knoxville and Aslan Foundation to design phase one, and Ely pointed out how the design for Phase 2 will fit into the natural surroundings.
“We will not have the dock, but a boardwalk for people wanting to get closer to the water,” she said.
A more defined swimming area will be addressed this summer, including buoys, boulders and clear, consistent signage. Since the limestone quarry closed 30-40 years ago, the city has taken steps to deter people from diving off the 100-foot-high rocks by adding signage and fencing. Ely and Hester hope a better defined swimming area will further promote safety.
Ely gestured to the space between the gravel road leading to the water and the craggy rocks that have been designated for a vendor.
“We want them to set up here where it’s easy access to the water for rental equipment,” she said. “We are looking at different kinds of vendors, similar to what Mead’s Quarry has.”
Hester said they are looking for a business to hire out kayaks and tubes, and not a food truck or T-shirt vendor, and they hope to have that vendor in place for the summer. That season will officially kick off on Memorial Day and run through Labor Day.
“Parks and recreation staff will be here regularly over the summer, as well as KPD officers to make sure everyone is being safe,” said Ely. “We still recommend people use personal protective devices for swimming — it is open water, like the Tennessee River, and we want them to remain mindful of that.”
“Over the years we have expanded the recreational opportunities for mountain bikers, hikers, and birdwatchers,” said Hester. “That activity and the upgrades — the new entrance and trail — tend to keep other (destructive) activity away.”
“The Aslan Foundation played a big part in partnering with us in phase one; they love this design for phase two,” added Ely.
Loghaven Artist Residency presented with 2021 AIA National Architecture Award
Knoxville, TN – April 29, 2021 – Today the American Institute of Architects presented the 2021 AIA Architecture Award, the architecture profession’s highest national recognition, to Sanders Pace Architecture for its original design and architectural rehabilitation work for the Loghaven Artist Residency, a new residency for emerging and established artists in the fields of visual art, dance, music, writing, theater, and interdisciplinary work. The juried award—which celebrates the best contemporary architecture regardless of budget, size, style, or type—honors Sanders Pace’s exceptional design for a ninety-acre campus to foster artistic exploration and the creation of new work.
The design for the Loghaven campus combines new construction and innovation with careful rehabilitation of the historic log cabins on the grounds—creating a seamless dialogue between the new and historic architecture and the natural landscape, and advancing the residency’s dynamism as a center for contemporary artistic practice.
During a six-year planning and design process, Sanders Pace partnered with the Aslan Foundation—which created and funds the Loghaven Artist Residency—on the rehabilitation of the historic log cabins that give the site its name, as well as the conceptualization, design, and construction of three new structures on the campus: the Visual Arts Studio, the Performing Arts Studio, and the 3,900-square-foot Jim McDonough House, which serves as a central gathering place for resident artists and features additional studio space and facilities. The log cabins, which had fallen into disrepair prior to the creation of the Loghaven Artist Residency, were revitalized to serve as artist housing. Loghaven’s studio spaces and three of the artist cabins provide collaborative artist groups the space for an intensive live/work experience, a rarity among artist residencies.
“We have close relationships with all our clients, and it was particularly inspiring and rewarding to work with the Aslan Foundation,” said Brandon F. Pace, FAIA, founding partner of Sanders Pace Architecture. “The project brings together elements that are central to our practice—respect for the unique nature and history of each site, design that grows out of the special character of the place, and the creation of spaces that serve and support users. The Institute Honor Award follows our colleague Michael A. Davis, AIA—who was instrumental in the Loghaven project—being recognized with a 2021 AIA Young Architects Award. We’re honored that the AIA selected us from among firms from across the nation for these awards, and we are more committed than ever to helping shape discourse around architecture and design innovation in our region and around the country.”
“Sanders Pace Architecture has been an incredible partner in the creation of the Loghaven Artist Residency, and we are thrilled to see them receive national recognition from the AIA,” said Andrea Bailey, Executive Director of the Aslan Foundation. “We invited artists to join us on-site in early 2020, and their response to Sanders Pace’s design was tribute to the thought, care, and effort the firm brought to every element of the campus. We’re eager to launch our inaugural open call on June 1 and share the Loghaven experience with a widening group of artists. The news of this award is particularly timely as we have just named Loghaven’s central building in honor of Aslan Foundation Board Member Jim McDonough, an architect in his own right, who invested so much of his energy and passion into creating Loghaven before his passing this March.”
“At Loghaven, artists reside and work in gorgeous living and working spaces with meals and stipend support provided,” said Sharon M. Louden, an advisor in the development of the Loghaven Artist Residency. “I’m excited for artists to find inspiration whether it’s at home in their cabin or exploring the campus. Artists should be sure to bookmark this fantastic opportunity and apply.”
Michael Davis receives 2021 AIA Young Architects Award
Michael Davis, AIA is one of 20 nationwide recipients to be recognized with the 2021 AIA Young Architects Award. The AIA Young Architects Award honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their careers.
Michael Davis, AIA is a Project Architect and a Lead Designer at Sanders Pace Architecture. He is a dedicated professional committed to creating innovative and responsive design solutions that are inspired by a sense of place. His desire to meaningfully engage the region in which he lives and works has led Michael to become a leader in the profession and sought-after mentor in the design community. In total Michael’s work has been recognized with over 30 awards for design excellence at the local, regional, and national level and has directly contributed to establishing Sanders Pace Architecture as a leading practice in the Southeastern United States.
He is the current President of AIA East Tennessee. Learn more about Michael’s accomplishments here.
Short Mountain House featured on Dezeen. Click HERE to check it out online.
Governor Bill Lee, Mayor Indya Kincannon, Mayor Glenn Jacobs among others attending the groundbreaking at the Dogan Gaither Flats, an important building in Knoxville’s black history that will be converted to housing for formerly incarcerated men returning to Knoxville. Coverage can be found at these locations:
WBIR ‘Historic Motel to provide affordable, supportive housing for former inmates’
French Broad House featured on Dezeen. Click HERE to check it out online.
Short Mountain House featured on ArchDaily. Click HERE to check it out online.
Brandon Pace delivers Keynote Address at AIA Ohio Virtual Annual Meeting
The AIA Ohio Annual Meeting will take place virtually on Friday, Nov. 13, at 3 p.m. via Zoom. The meeting will be immediately followed by a design keynote presented by the 2020 AIA Ohio Design Awards Jury Chair, Brandon Pace, FAIA. Brandon will present In Context, a lecture that will explore how the varied historic, social, and cultural circumstances of Knoxville, TN, have helped to establish the foundation and framework for his firm’s design process. Brandon will share the stories of several active and recently completed projects to illustrate how this process plays out in ways which challenge local convention, raise expectations within our urban neighborhoods, and heighten awareness of important issues within the City.
You can watch the full lecture by clicking HERE.
