News
June 2025
Friday, June 20th, 2025
Sanders Pace Architecture’s National Award for Dogan-Gaither Flats featured in Knox Compass
For its work on historic Dogan-Gaither Flats, Sanders Pace Architecture has earned a 2025 Housing Award from the American Institute of Architects.
The AIA Housing Awards have highlighted sustainable, responsive, and innovative residential designs, showcasing a diverse range of housing types and architectural practices. Sanders Pace is one of eight firms to receive the award this year, which was announced last month at the AIA’s 2025 Conference in Boston.
The Dogan-Gaither Flats project involved the conversion of the former Dogan-Gaither Motor Court in East Knoxville into supportive housing for formerly incarcerated individuals transitioning back to society.
The civil rights-era motor court was a haven for African-American travelers during the segregation era. With an investment by founder Josh Smith and funding from the City of Knoxville, the 4th Purpose Foundation hired Sanders Pace to convert the motel into housing with 16 dual-occupancy one-bedroom affordable housing units.
The building was in serious disrepair prior to the renovation, and according to a news release Sanders Pace uncovered and utilized the original mid-century design elements while reactivating the spaces with light-filled connections to the exterior landscape.
The AIA award jury said Dogan-Gaither Flats is about renewal and rebirth.
“The project revitalizes a historic site while bolstering the community in a transitioning urban area,” the jury said. “It is also a project serving formerly incarcerated individuals transitioning back to society, a community entirely unseen and unserved. The project is looking to our past, present, and future simultaneously.”
Sanders Pace Architecture’s Cameron S. Bolin served as the lead designer and project manager through the design phases. Construction administration phase services were carried out by Aaron Pennington, along with Principal-in-Charge John L. Sanders.