Year: 2025 Design & Honor Awards | Category: Built Project over 5,000 SF

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Building is mission-critical to all the Institute of Agriculture’s key functions: It supports discovery research in multiple departments. It houses offices for Extension specialists and outreach conducted by the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture, and the building provides state-of-the-art facilities for teaching and learning. The 10,000-sf green roof with Tennessee native plant colonies modeling four distinct ecological horticultures provides outdoor learning spaces and research plots while managing stormwater in its soil matrix. Informal learning spaces distributed on all floors adjacent to classrooms, class laboratories, and research laboratories, enhance interdisciplinary, peer-to-peer learning.

Design Challenge

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Building emphatically meets the Institute of Agriculture’s challenge to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable design and ecological horticulture within its mission to improve agriculture and use of natural resources in Tennessee.

A key feature of the project – a 10,000-sf accessible green roof – was designed in close collaboration with faculty and students from the Departments of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. These stakeholders wanted a signature element to provide outdoor learning and research spaces on a relatively tight campus site. Located above the large event space for public outreach, this green roof utilizes a soil matrix designed to mitigate stormwater runoff while supporting native plant communities selected to demonstrate four distinct Tennessee grasslands and glades. Eight research plots on the roof allow students and faculty to actively use the roof garden in open air plant research easily seen by all students at the Institute.

Extensive exterior and interior windows provide daylighting and views for many of the spaces – including research labs. The idea of putting science on display with windows into labs is extended by large graphic panels at key public spaces on each floor. These graphic panels show macro and micro images of Tennessee agriculture, plants, forests, wildlife, and insects that are subjects in the classrooms and labs.

High-efficiency mechanical and electrical systems will reduce operating costs throughout the building’s life. The overall design meets the state’s High Performance Building Requirements which are modeled on LEED Silver, or better, design performance.

Firm
BarberMcMurry Architects

Associate Architect
Lord Aeck Sargent Planning & Design, Inc.

Project Location
Knoxville, TN

Completion Date
6/3/2024

Architects and Designers
Kelly Headden
John Starr

Structural Engineer
Wallace Design Collective

General Contractor
Wheelhouse Builders

Additional Team:
Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Newcomb & Boyd
The Christman Company
Arcadis

Photographer
Jonathan Hillyer