Sanders Pace Architecture

The field house at Lakeshore Park is almost finished and we’re happy to share a few rainy day shots. Looking forward to seeing the site active with people soon!

Landscape: Nelson Byrd Woltz
Construction: Denark Construction

Last Friday we joined and others from the City of Knoxville and the Aslan Foundation at a groundbreaking for the second phase of construction at Augusta Quarry! We’ve been involved in this project since 2016 and we appreciate the commitment of Aslan in championing sites like this and supporting design work on important projects within Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness. When complete this project will improve access and provide amenity spaces for park users including swim platforms, bathrooms, and vendor support spaces.

The first pavilion completed at Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness Gateway Park serves as a backdrop to the world-class mountain biking trails, pump tracks, and bike park at Baker Creek Preserve. The complex curvature of the shade sails led to this supplemental set of fabrication drawings we developed to communicate fabric patterns and attachment methods to the general contractor.

We hope you can join us and the City of Knoxville for the official ribbon cutting at Baker Creek at 4pm on March 25!

Photo cred Port Urbanism
Rhino wizardry Keith Kaseman

Last week the Theatre Department at the University of Tennessee celebrated the history of the Carousel Theatre with a Ghost Light ceremony to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Jenny Boyd Carousel Theatre.

Sanders Pace and LMN Architects have partnered on the design of a new building that references the scale and character of the original Carousel while providing highly adaptable performance space with state-the-art equipment needed to support all programs within the highly-ranked theatre department.

Construction starts next month with an opening scheduled for Fall 2025.

Residential Design Magazine’s Most-Read Case Studies of 2023 includes our own Clauss Haus II!

Case Study: Clauss Haus II by Sanders Pace Architecture Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains are an unlikely location for the nation’s first subdivision that mandated modernist design. So it’s something…

The first pavilion in Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness Gateway Park is nearing completion! This structure will provide bathrooms, wayfinding, and shade for folks visiting the bike park, trails, and other amenities at Baker Creek Preserve.

Join the design and construction team and City of Knoxville officials for a ribbon cutting in January, stay tuned for details.

Last week Brandon spent time with students at Florida Atlantic University prior to presenting the firm’s work in a lecture which highlighted the research-based focus the firm takes with public realm projects.

Interacting with students is always inspiring and rewarding and we appreciate the invitation from the School of architecture to be a part of this year’s lecture series!

Link to one of several local outlets covering last week’s McClung Warehouse Redevelopment Open House below. We’re excited about the possibilities and thrilled to be helping KCDC and the City of Knoxville as they seek public input on this important node at the northern edge of downtown!

Survey is still open, link here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MVGKNM2

McClung Warehouse Site Redevelopment In Focus, Again Your Urban Connection

Join us for the McClung Warehouse Redevelopment Open House TODAY
from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at The Standard.

The City of Knoxville and the Knoxville Community Development Corporation (KCDC) are hosting an open house event at The Standard on November 16, 2023, from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

The community is invited to attend at any time and provide input on the redevelopment of the former McClung Warehouse sites along Jackson Avenue. City staff and partners will be located at stations throughout the event to support engagement and gather feedback.

Ideas and input from the open house will be used to inform programming and redevelopment of the site.

Its early fall and design awards programs are in full swing! This week John Sanders was in Little Rock to accept a Best of the South Award from the Southeast chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians for the preservation work undertaken on Clauss Haus II. Earlier in the week our UTIA College of Veterinary Medicine and Dogan-Gaither Flats projects both received Honor Awards from our local AIA East Tennessee chapter.

We’re proud of our project teams, partners, and clients we collaborated with to make bring these projects to life!

Urban Wilderness Gateway Park perforated steel skin installation in progress.

Exciting to see this one come to life!

This week Docomomo announced thirteen recipients of the 2023 Modernism in America Awards. These projects highlight the best in preservation practice by today’s architects, designers, preservation professionals and advocates. We’re proud to have our Dogan Gaither Flats project selected as one of the winners.

The Dogan Gaither Flats project, a midcentury motel-turned supportive housing, has a story that touches nearly all areas of Black history and culture. It was the first Black-owned motel in Knoxville. The Gaither Brothers faced redlining and discrimination – they were refused financing by both white and Black-owned institutions, and later urban renewal caused the original motel to relocate due to a highway project. The motel was featured in the Nationwide Hotel Association Directory and Guide to Travelers, a rival Green Book publication, and hosted a who’s who of famous musicians and civil rights activists.

You can read more about the awards program and the winners at this link:

https://docomomo-us.org/events/modernism-in-america-awards?mc_cid=133c852251&mc_eid=261df21028

It’s been an honor to work on this important Knoxville landmark with The Aslan Foundation. Learn more about the process and plans for the property at the link below!

How crews are restoring Eugenia Williams House – down to the original woodwork and windows Most Knoxville residents know the house behind the brick wall on Lyons View. Here's how the Eugenia Williams House is being restored for public use.

Dialing in the complex curvature of the pavilion at with Quality Steel and DCSI Construction. This one’s part of the larger Urban Wilderness Gateway Park project underway in South Knoxville for City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation with Port .

Proud of the SPA team for taking home an Excellence Award for our addition to UT‘s College of Veterinary Medicine at last nights AIA Tennessee design awards gala!

The 20,000 square foot Teaching and Learning Center serves as the front door to the UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and the Pendergrass Library and acts as a gateway into the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus. The building provides a state-of-the-art Clinical Skills Simulation Laboratory, two flexible Teaching Labs, and a 130-seat tiered auditorium-style “Central Hall” that provides lecture space for first and second-year students.

Thanks Keith Isaacs Photo for the wonderful photos and congrats to Merit Construction for the build.

Benjamin Pollak held court for this week’s studio crit in the office. Ben presented a recent lecture he gave at Los Angeles Trade-Tech along with some fascinating personal work which builds upon his research interests. These studio sessions have become a valuable part of our studio culture and we’re always happy to learn from our colleagues!

We're excited to be working with Community Development NWA on this Workforce Housing Initiative and thankful for support from the Walton Family Foundation.

Walton Family Foundation announces two new Design Excellence projects in Bentonville The Walton Family Foundation on Wednesday announced new Design Excellence projects to support "missing middle" housing in downtown Bentonville and a campus expansion of City Hall.

John Sanders has been quietly toiling away on this ridgeline for years. The results speak for themselves, but luckily they don’t have to.

Thanks to WSJ Real Estate and Anthony Paletta for this great article!

Image credit: Bruce Cole Photography

A Tennessee Subdivision Became a Model for Modern Living. Now It’s Getting a Second Act. Knoxville-based architect John L. Sanders is working his way through restoring Little Switzerland, a modernist community overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains.

Next Tuesday, we’ll be hosting a Public Forum in Bentonville, Arkansas with Community Development NWA to discuss the issue of housing access and affordability in Northwest Arkansas.

This project is part of a Workforce Housing Initiative led by Community Development NWA and sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation. We’re honored to be included as part of the WFF Design Excellence Program, and excited to be working on this project which will focus on , an important issue faced by one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

Please register at the link if you plan to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/housing-in-bentonville-a-discussion-with-community-development-nwa-tickets-642436082617

We’re hiring an experienced Project Manager to join our talented and hard-working team in Knoxville, TN! Please share with those in your network who may be interested. More information available at the link: https://jobs.archpaper.com/job/project-manager-69/

Two City of Knoxville park pavilion construction projects are underway with progress updates running parallel. The curving steel frame at is taking shape, a contrast to the long and sleek steel roof overhangs of the new Fieldhouse at . Stay tuned for updates!

Steel left the shop earlier this week headed to ! Er****on on the first pavilion at Urban Wilderness Gateway Park started yesterday. Can’t wait to see this come together!

Knox Heritage held their annual East Tennessee Preservation Awards last week and we are excited to announce that Dogan-Gaither Flats was the recipient of this year’s Knox County Mayor Award! It recognizes projects that make exemplary contributions to the advancement of historic preservation in Knox County.

Built in 1963, the Dogan-Gaither Motel played an important role in Knoxville during the Civil Rights era. The building was the second site of Knoxville’s first and only Black motel during segregation and provided accommodations to the likes of Ray Charles and five Freedom Riders. In 2022, this historic motel was transformed into affordable and supportive housing for paroled ex-offenders returning to the community. The project has had a transformative effect on the people served, reducing the recidivism rate for participants in this year-long program from 70% to 10%.

Cheers to Fourth Purpose for their commitment to our community and congratulations on the well-deserved award!



Photo cred: Keith Isaacs Photo | Adrienne Weber

Phase 2 of Lakeshore Park is under construction and we’re proud to be part of the design team led by Nelson Byrd Woltz. Three new buildings are part of this phase, including a Fieldhouse which serves as a gateway to new athletic fields now under construction. The 180’ long roof canopy provides shelter for picnic tables overlooking the baseball fields and extends along the building’s length to provide covered access to bathrooms, concessions, and an event space. The building’s functions are separated by an open-air dogtrot, framing views to Third Creek and providing access to the expanded network of trails within the park.

A Garden Pavilion and Playground Pavilion are also underway as part of this phase. Stay tuned for further developments!

Happy Birthday Candoro Marble Building! We were honored to be a part the 100 year birthday festivities for which celebrated the hard work of a group of preservationist donors, the Candoro Arts and Heritage Center, and The Aslan Foundation have put into preservation efforts for more than 20 years to preserve and restore this important piece of Knoxville history for future generations.

The building is now open to the public, visit to learn more and we’re looking forward to continuing the party at Vestival this afternoon!


Photo 4 cred Bruce Cole Photography

Progress pics from Baker Creek Preserve at Urban Wilderness Gateway Park today including mock-ups of the corten steel structure and screen and insulated board-formed concrete walls. When finished the building will provide bathrooms, shade, and wayfinding for the multi-use trail network wirhin Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness.

The preservation of Clauss Haus II and the story of the Little Switzerland Community are featured in this month's issue of Residential Design Magazine. It's a wonderful article about this little-known place just 8 miles from downtown Knoxville, the architects who originally built it, and the ongoing effort John Sanders is making in order to preserve this important and early example of 20th-century Modernism.

Residential Design VOL 2 2023 Page 32 DESIGN LAB Modernizing the Moderns The promise and the peril of renovating early contemporary houses. BY CHERYL WEBER 32 RESIDENTIALDESIGNMAGAZINE.COM VOL. 2, 2023

Exterior restoration work is almost complete at the Historic Eugenia Williams House, an iconic John Staub designed country house completed in 1941 on the banks of the Tennessee River. Windows and shutters are installed and the replacement of a delaminating bluestone terrace is in progress. Interior restoration is next followed by site work including the reestablishment and extension of an original trail system led by the team . When completed, the building and grounds will be publicly accessible. The Aslan Foundation has created a blog to document the process, follow along at the link in our bio.

We’re honored to have been a part of the Dogan-Gaither Flats project, a reentry facility for formerly incarcerated men as they transition back into society. The adaptive reuse project was recognized with a Keep Knoxville Beautiful Orchid Award last week in the redesign/reuse category.

You can learn more about the project and it’s important mission in this video.

Dogan-Gaither Flats | Knoxville Reentry Facility This is "Dogan-Gaither Flats | Knoxville Reentry Facility" by Fourth Purpose Foundation on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love…

Over the past decade or so South Knoxville has seen rapid growth through a combination of public investment and private development with more to come. Join us tonight at the Kerbela Temple for an update on development within Knoxville’s South Waterfront neighborhoods and Urban Wilderness sites.