Integrations Studio

Fourth-year Integrations Studio focuses on complete design of a building, including HVAC, structure, lighting, plumbing, and passive systems. This studio also puts an emphasis on sustainability and requires students to consult LEED / AIA Committee on the Environment guidelines. In the section instructed by Professor Hansjoerg Goeritz we designed a museum for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) located between the Henley and Gay Street Bridges across the Tennessee River from downtown Knoxville. As a studio class of 15, we are working in 5 teams of three. All the work shown here was done in collaboration with my teammates Frank Potts and Grant Joerger. 

The strategic location of this site means it carries the potential to become a gateway into South Knoxville. With the addition of greenway connectivity and a marina, the presence of the TVA museum not only serves as a new cultural destination, but as a space for outdoor recreation, entertainment, community events, and education. The entirety of its program is arranged in three main components: a terraced landscape, a programmed roof, and a parking tower. The construction itself is almost exclusively comprised of concrete, utilizing technologies typically used for bridge building to raise the massive beams. We felt that a building of this scale and construction type is very appropriate as a signifier of the TVA's impact, presence, and history in the region, which involved the construction of many concrete infrastructures such as dams and bridges.

The terraced landscape reduces the amount of excavation necessary for this project while also creating a connection between the street and the river below. Our interior and exterior spaces are formed by these terraces, carved from the site in a unified system of levels that follow the slope of the original riverbank. On the interior this allows for a series of tiered gallery spaces which share a single meandering circulation path. These tiered galleries then become a terraced plaza space outdoors, with covered pavilion areas as well as green space that is open to the sky.

Appearing as a linear mass hovering over the terraces, the gallery 'roof' in actuality houses the library, offices, and restaurant. Using only one system of beams that extend the entire height and length of the roof, this piece is essentially one huge roof system that happens to have enough interstitial space to accommodate program elements. The aperture located in the center of the roof not only brings light into the museum underneath, but also ensures that all the spaces within the roof receive daylight from two sides. Cisterns located in the beams collect rainwater, which is then used to irrigate the roof gardens, flush toilets, etc.

On the opposite side of the site rests the recreation tower, which houses the auditorium, 800 parking spaces, ball courts, and a skate park. This piece also serves as a connector for the extended greenway systems.