In 2023, the City of Knoxville, the Knoxville Community Development Corporation and the University of Tennessee engaged a stakeholder group around the idea of connecting the University of Tennessee Knoxville campus with the Vestal community of South Knoxville through the introduction of a new pedestrian bridge, spanning the Tennessee River. Sanders Pace was commissioned to create a masterplan along the South Knoxville shoreline that established a vision for a mixed-use, mixed-income development hosting graduate student and faculty housing, university functions, commercial, retail, and greenspace amenities including a new waterfront park and connected greenway system along the shoreline of the Tennessee River. Through community engagement and a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team effort, Sanders Pace Architecture led a design process that established a balanced approach to future development, weighing community needs with university functions, and building massing that remains consistent with the City’s adopted form-based code.
