The work Sanders Pace Architecture stretches across contemporary Appalachian culture, spanning from the city of Knoxville, through the Tennessee Valley, into the ancient expanse of the Great Smoky Mountains, and beyond. The city’s identity, rooted in a bottom-up form of urban revitalization, has been greatly impacted by SPA’s sensitive and methodical approach to architecture and urban design. SPA’s current and recent projects include infrastructural transformations, urban design frameworks, municipal parks, wilderness planning, university facilities, equitable housing developments, historic renovations, cultural centers and artist residencies. Taken together as an expanding body of work, these projects operate at the scale of the city itself, offering a granular cross section of the city’s growth and evolution.

In addition to its urban design focus, the work of SPA has been greatly informed by its surrounding ecological context. Practicing within the larger Tennessee Valley Region, and within the wild terrain of the Appalachian Mountains, SPA has realized numerous projects recognized regionally and nationally for their nuanced and sustainable relationships to the unique histories, ecologies and landscapes that comprise East Tennessee’s gradient wilderness.

During the past decade, with a strong footing in Knoxville’s incremental growth and renewal, founding principals John Sanders and Brandon Pace have expanded their reach and have developed strong working relationships with public and civic institutions across the Southeast region. Recently, SPA expanded its leadership, adding Josh Shelton as a principal, whose planning and architecture focus has resulted in the realization of significant projects across the United States. Today, Sanders Pace Architecture works closely with its clients and teams across scales, geographies, typologies and cultural contexts, and has established itself as one of the most imaginative critical architecture practices, anywhere.