University of Tennessee Architecture Students Design Tall Wood Structure for Nashville

As the construction boom continues, sustainable urban building practices should be incorporated into every step of urban planning and development. Fourth year architecture students in the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design participated in the Nashville Civic Design Center’s (NCDC) Urban Design Studio challenge to design a wood-framed, high-rise multi-use structure.

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Fourth year architecture students from the University of Tennessee participated in the Nashville Civic Design Center's Urban Design Studio challenge co-sponsored by LP Building Products to concept a wood-framed, high-rise multi-use structure in Nashville, as seen in this model. (Photo: Business Wire)

On December 4, the architectural students participated in the final review of the 15-story Timber Tower Studio project, which was co-sponsored by Nashville-based LP Building Products, a leader in high-performance building solutions, and the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for High-Performance Energy Practices in Urban Environments.

"The opportunity to collaborate with community, industry and technical experts on this project has been crucial to the students’ experience,” said Ted Shelton, associate professor in UT’s School of Architecture. "These are the types of partnerships that will be required if we are to design and construct cities that do more work while using energy in a way that is as benign as possible.”

The December final review summarizes the students’ semester-long project to explore the conceptual design of a high-rise wood structure in downtown Nashville at Church Street and Polk Avenue. Over the course of the semester, the students paired their hands-on curriculum with input from industry professionals, including:

• Benton Johnson, an associate at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, and an influencer in the urban mass timber movement
• Yugon Kim, co-founder of design firm IKD, where art, architecture, material and making intersect
• LP Building Products officials focused on progressive and sustainable building practices
• Nashville city officials focused on affordable housing, sustainability and more

"The Urban Design Studio presents us with an opportunity to offer guidance on public policy and development practice in urban planning and design,” said Gary Gaston, chief executive officer of the Nashville Civic Design Center. "We are fortunate to have found the intersection of the eager, emerging UT architecture students with industry experts and organizations like LP Building Products who will help the students prepare themselves—and ultimately our communities and resources—for the future.”

"As an organization that seeks to find forward-thinking individuals, we were honored to be a part of this Urban Design Studio challenge,” said Mike Sims, SVP of sales, marketing and strategy at LP Building Products. "The participating students are some of tomorrow’s best and brightest designers, and we look to them to continue meeting community needs through progressive approaches and sustainable building practices. At LP, we help designers and builders find the solutions they need, so we admire the students’ innovative work to implement safe and sound building practices using sustainable wood materials.”

NCDC will release a publication and exhibition of the student work in the spring of 2018, and anticipates further partnerships exploring innovative wood design and construction in the coming year.

About the Nashville Civic Design Center

Founded in 2000, the Nashville Civic Design Center (NCDC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to elevate the quality of Nashville’s built environment and to promote public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional city for all. The NCDC promotes the Ten Principles of The Plan of Nashville, offers public education on civic design, provides consultation on civic and other community development projects, facilitates public dialogue, and researches and publishes reports on various civic design issues. For more information, please visit www.civicdesigncenter.org.

About the University of Tennessee College of Architecture

Design. Make. Transform. Founded in 1965, the College of Architecture and Design enriches quality of life in the region and world through transformational design education, the Governor’s Chair for Energy + Urbanism, design/build program, key partnerships and award-winning facilities including the state-of-the-art Fab Lab. The college is comprised of more than 420 undergraduate and graduate students in architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture. Visit archdesign.utk.edu to learn more.

About LP Building Products

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP Building Products) is a leading manufacturer of quality engineered wood building materials including OSB, structural framing products, and exterior siding for use in residential, industrial and light commercial construction. From manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Chile and Brazil, LP products are sold to builders and homeowners through building materials distributors and dealers and retail home centers. Founded in 1973, LP is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under LPX. For more information, please visit www.LPCorp.com.

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