BarberMcMurry Architects

At Tennessee College of Applied Technology Chattanooga, BarberMcMurry designed a new Advanced Manufacturing Building to meet crucial campus needs and enhance the visual and physical connections between TCAT Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College, which share a campus.

TCAT Chattanooga has more full-time students per square foot than any other TCAT facility in the state, and had reached capacity, unable to expand programs the community desperately needed. The new building expands capacity of student enrollment by 84% — resulting in more highly-trained graduates in fields including manufacturing, IT and healthcare.

Overlooking a pond, the main entrance is identified by a double-height canopy space and large glass panes that reveal the well-lit lobby. The exterior brick ties into existing buildings on campus, while metal panels and glass reflect the progressive, industrial purpose of the building.

Read more about this project on our website! https://bma1915.com/projects/tcat-chattanooga-advanced-manufacturing

Photography by Keith Isaacs Photo

Welcome to BMA, Riley!

Riley Patton has joined BarberMcMurry as Submittals Coordinator. He earned his bachelor's in engineering technology from Tennessee Tech in 2019, and has experience in customer service and operational management.

We're only weeks away from the official opening of the Agriculture & Natural Resources Building at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture!

The four-story building — designed with Lord Aeck Sargent — is a centerpiece and living research environment for students, with research laboratories, biophilic planters, a green roof, and a research patio garden integrated into the design.

https://bma1915.com/projects/utia-anrb

Welcome to BMA, Andrew & Will!

Andrew is a 2024 graduate of the University of Tennessee, with a Master of Architecture and bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture. While in school, he was a member of ia Collaborative and ASID, as well as a founder and leader of Common Ground, an equity and diversity organization. By combining his skills in both interior architecture and architecture, he is able to work in great detail no matter the scale or scope.

Will is a 2024 graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he earned his Master of Architecture. Before attaining his master’s, he worked for various non-profits where he learned the importance and value in community development and engagement.

It's great! To be! A Tennessee Vol!

We had a great time last night celebrating National Champs - UT baseball!

We're thrilled to be working on an expansion and renovation of Lindsey Nelson Stadium with Populous. The expanded stadium will seat 7,600 and add multiple game-day amenities. Go Big Orange!

https://bma1915.com/projects/ut-lindsey-nelson-stadium

BMA led a renovation for CGI Federal in the Riverview Tower in downtown Knoxville, creating a collaborative and creative office environment.

In the elevator lobby and reception area, wooden acoustical slats are thoughtfully placed to create vitality and movement, and to support subtle company branding. Throughout the office, different ceiling designs complement the activity happening beneath — wooden slats to support positive first impressions, acoustic felt baffles in open collaborative areas and conference rooms — while in circulation areas the ceiling deck is exposed.

The design concept builds off the company’s technology focus, but is grounded by organic forms and natural materials as well as references to local landmarks and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Welcome to BMA, Kathryn & Michelle!

Kathryn Baddorf is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Architecture + Design, where she earned her Master of Architecture, and joins BMA as an architectural graduate. She is also a Registered Nurse with experience as a clinical instructor and as a staff nurse in a local healthcare system.

Michelle Barillaro joins BMA as Construction Administrator, with 28 years of experience in the architecture and construction industry, both as a registered architect and a project manager and cost estimator for commercial construction companies.

Welcome to the BMA team, Abigail & Lauren!

Abigail Slater is an interior design student with a minor in marketing at East Tennessee State University, graduating in December. She is the founder and president of ETSU’s chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, and has served as Vice President of Communications in Alpha Xi Delta. She has a background in the healthcare field, recently employed as a nursing assistant in neonatal intensive care and in oncology.

Lauren White is an architecture student at the University of Tennessee College of Architecture + Design with a minor in Hispanic Studies. She has recently completed study abroad programs in Barcelona and San Jose. She is highly involved on campus, being a member of the philanthropy and diversity, equity and inclusion committees for Chi Omega. She recently was honored at the World Language and Cultures Awards Ceremony for the Mossman Scholars Study Abroad Award.

Welcome to BMA, Cara & Stephanie!

Stephanie Kreps, NCIDQ, LEED GA, has nine years of design experience in a variety of project types, particularly healthcare design. This focus has led to a deep understanding of the needs of patients and healthcare professionals, and a commitment to crafting interior environments that promote healing, support staff workflow and respite, and maximize an organization’s quality of care.

Cara Ventura graduated from Virginia Tech in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. She recently relocated from Arlington, Virginia and has experience working on a variety of project types, including commercial, hospitality and healthcare.

We’re so proud to be part of this project with Design Innovation and Populous!

Updated Stadium Photographs Your Urban Connection

As Earth Month ends, we’re wrapping up our look at a few of our sustainable design projects with the Ruth & Steve West Workforce Development Center — which houses Pellissippi State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Knoxville programs.

One of the most unique aspects of the building’s design is the reuse of Tennessee marble salvaged from Pellissippi State’s original Blount County campus. Marble accents appear throughout the building, but the most prominent use is as a donor wall in the main lobby.

The Workforce Development Center is designed to use 25% less energy than the typical benchmark for a classroom & lab building. The building utilizes energy-saving LED lights, low-emissivity glazing, automated sensors and low-flow fixtures, and regional and recycled materials. The sawtooth roofline allows clerestory windows to bring natural light daylight into the building’s interior, including high-bay labs and classrooms. The roof is designed to collect rainwater for site irrigation and for future solar panel use.

The site includes bicycle racks and electric vehicle charging stations while the landscaping prioritizes native, drought-tolerant plantings.

At the Health & Science Center at Cleveland State Community College, BarberMcMurry and I.C. Thomasson Associates utilized an energy recovery system that saves costs and energy in heating & cooling. This energy recovery system is particularly useful in a classroom building, which has significant outside-air requirements.

A thermal energy recovery wheel was installed in the supply air stream of the air-handling units, recovering energy from the general exhaust air to the code-required outside air. This type of pre-treatment of the outside air helps HVAC units recover some of the temperature difference between outside and inside air. In other words, the HVAC unit does not have to work as hard to heat or cool the incoming air.

Other sustainable design strategies on this project include natural daylight access, the use of regional materials and recycled materials, and the conscious creation of a multifunctional space that can serve as a lecture hall or event space — uniting the college with its community. The building also uses water-saving and energy-saving tools like low-flow water fixtures, LED lights, high-efficiency HVAC equipment, and automatic light sensors.

https://bma1915.com/projects/cleveland-state-health-science-center

The Scripps Networks Interactive Tower at East Tennessee Children's Hospital brings sustainable design to a healthcare setting. Here, BarberMcMurry pursued sustainable design strategies that were earth-friendly that also supported positive patient outcomes.

The building, on a constrained site downtown, features a roof garden that simultaneously provides relaxation space to patients, families and employees — it also serves to help mitigate stormwater runoff on the site. The plantings of the roof garden are native and drought tolerant. Along with rain sensors in the garden, these plantings reduce the need for additional irrigation.

Inside the tower, BMA designed light wells that would bring natural light into interior spaces that otherwise didn’t have window access. Of particular importance was that every single NICU room had access to daylight. Many light wells also act as art installations, with museum-like 3D exhibits featuring flora and fauna. These interactive light wells work as soothing and distracting places of engagement, both for pediatric patients and other users of the hospital. These exhibits were designed by local makers and artists.

On the more technical side, the tower features ultra insulated glazing that cuts down on energy loss. The entire tower utilizes regional materials as well as energy-efficient LED lighting with daylight and occupancy sensors. Like all BarberMcMurry projects, the building was painted and furnished with low-VOC materials, and those that don’t contain red-list chemicals like urea formaldehyde.

April is Earth Month, and we are highlighting some of our sustainable design practices & projects all month long. Stay tuned for more!

📚Are you passionate about architecture and education? Do you have a few books that could use a good home? From April 15th to April 26th, bring your gently used or new books to BarberMcMurry Architects for AIA East Tennessee’s K-12 Architectural Book Drive!📚

All the books collected during our drive will be donated to Knox County Schools, helping inspire and educate tomorrow’s architects. If you have questions regarding the drive or need assistance dropping off your donation, don't hesitate to contact our K-12 Outreach Committee Chair, Michael Travis, at [email protected].

The new multipurpose stadium in downtown Knoxville — future home to Tennessee Smokies and One Knox SC — is an amazing example of sustainable design strategies on a large scale!

The project prioritizes the human scale with multiuse buildings and large pedestrian plazas that total nearly twice the size of Market Square. The largest plaza will include urban greenspace, a stage, children’s play area, options for play fountains, and a passive water collection/filter system to process rainwater and reduce runoff contamination of nearby First Creek.

The surrounding buildings are designed to include green roofs. The sun's path was carefully studied, with the resulting design reducing solar heat gain in the plaza and enhancing visitor experience — whether at a game or concert, shopping, eating out, or just walking through the plaza.

The roof deck of the stadium itself incorporates mass timber. Mass timber is a renewable resource that also reduces carbon emissions associated with typical commercial construction. The mass timber, decking and steel system — as well as our use of an innovative modeling system — drastically reduced typical steel and steel waste by an estimated 30 tons, and cut nearly three months from the schedule, a huge reduction in the project's carbon footprint.

The mass timber used in this project is sourced from regional, responsibly managed forests. Additionally, the biophilic effects of visible timber in a building have been shown to be positive for building occupants.

April is Earth Month, and we are highlighting some of our sustainable design practices & projects all month long. Stay tuned for more!

Did you know that BarberMcMurry’s offices are LEED Silver?

Since our office was a renovation of space inside the historic Arnstein building, built in 1906, we considered key factors such as water consumption, energy efficiency and occupant health in the design. Almost the entire office — except closets — receives natural light, and 95% of our workspaces have outdoor views. Compared to similarly sized offices, our studio uses 35% less water, 42% less energy on lighting, and 20% less electrical power in total. When we were looking for a new office in 2013, we specifically chose one that would encourage health for our employees — close to alternative transportation routes, greenspace, and pedestrian thoroughfares.

These photos include before & after images of our offices, a daylighting study, and an alternative transportation analysis.

April is Earth Month, and we are highlighting some of our sustainable design practices & projects all month long. Stay tuned!

We join the team at UT Medical Center and the community in celebrating Joe Landsman, who is retiring as UTMC CEO after 25 years!

BarberMcMurry has had the pleasure of working with the 710-bed academic medical center for decades — as designer of the Heart Hospital, Cancer Institute, University Orthopaedic Institute, the current renovation & expansion of the Emergency Department, and various other projects on and off campus. In honor of Joe’s leadership, we recently designed a dedication wall within the Heart Hospital that recognizes his leadership, passion, and vision, and commemorates milestones of the medical center and University Health System over the past 25 years. The wall was unveiled yesterday in a surprise ceremony.

Best wishes, Joe!

It’s been BarberMcMurry’s pleasure to work with Tennessee College of Applied Technology Harriman to bring this new facility to life in Roane County!

The design blends industrial and collegiate aesthetics, reflecting the programs taught at TCAT Harriman. An outdoor public space will encourage interaction and collaboration, while the second floor overlooks the high-bay labs — providing an amazing viewpoint for touring prospective students.

Read more about this project on our website! https://bma1915.com/projects/tcat-harriman

TACT's Harriman location to build new campus housing all programs under one roof The facility is expected to be around 88,000 square feet large. The last time the location was updated was in 1999.

Tennessee College of Applied Technology Harriman's new 88,000 square-foot facility in Roane County will allow them to house and expand all of their academic programs under one roof.

The progressive design blends industrial and collegiate aesthetics. An outdoor public space encourages interaction and collaboration while the indoor lobby does the same inside. The building will house high-bay labs, classrooms, laboratories and administrative and student support spaces.

It's International Women's Day, and today was also the home dedication for the 2023 Knoxville Habitat for Humanity Women Build. BMA is presenting sponsor of Women Build & the amazing women of BMA have volunteered on build days for years.

Today we celebrate women like new homeowner Abby (and daughter Chloe) and the women of BMA — phenomenal designers, moms, daughters, friends & neighbors.

Happy ribbon cutting day, Chattanooga State Community College and TCAT Chattanooga!

It’s amazing to see the Advanced Manufacturing Building complete! The building houses student services, a high-bay laboratory for advanced manufacturing equipment, and classrooms and labs.

Overlooking a pond, the main entrance is identified by a double-height canopy space and large glass panes that reveal the well-lit lobby. The exterior brick ties into existing buildings on campus, while metal panels and glass reflect the progressive, industrial purpose of the building.

Today we toured the Boyd Sports multipurpose baseball/soccer stadium — under construction in the Old City!

We checked out the exposed wood decking material — CLT, a sustainable option — that will provide visual warmth and economical roof assembly. The stadium is set to open April 2025!

📸: and (the group photo is where homeplate will be!)

Congratulations to Emmie Palmer and Sarah Peacock for being named Associates at BMA!

Emmie is a 2013 graduate of the UT College of Architecture and Design, and has worked as a project manager, project architect and designer. Sarah is a proud Clemson tiger, holding a Master of Architecture with a Healthcare concentration.

Read more about the amazing things Emmie & Sarah are doing at our website! https://bma1915.com/news/2024/02/21/palmer-peacock-promoted-associate

Today was our 2nd annual Day of Service — on which we donate a day of design services to a local nonprofit. And this year, we were able to work with two: InterFaith Health Center and Magnolia Harbor Carefarm!

We had a blast helping both of these amazing organizations meet the needs of our community!

Congratulations to BarberMcMurry's new Senior Associates — Kristin Bowman Colwell, A.j. Heidel & Drew Newman!

Read more of the amazing things that Drew, A.J. & Kristin are doing on our website! https://bma1915.com/news/2024/02/08/colwell-heidel-newman-named-senior-associates