October 17, 2024 Architecture Alumni Shine in AIA East TN AUD Design Competition
AIA East Tennessee announced six winning designs in its design competition, focusing on accessory dwelling units, with five of six finalists being alumni of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s School of Architecture.
ADUs—commonly known as guest homes or accessory apartments—are a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit on the same lot as a stand-alone, detached single-family home. Almost all residential lots in Knoxville can legally sustain an ADU which can generate income for homeowners and support intergenerational living. The competition aimed to increase awareness and motivate change while providing tools to help address the region’s housing supply shortage.
Jurors included Lindsay Crockett, principal planner and design review program manager at Knoxville-Knox County Planning, Matthew Griffith, architect and founding principal of In Situ Studio, and Ross Miller, principal of FormGrey Studio.
“The School of Architecture is committed to generating knowledge and disseminating high-impact ideas about the built environment,” said Carl Lostritto, director of the school and UT representative on the AIA East Tennessee Board. “I’m especially excited to see entries that are feasible and productively disruptive. In this case, my expectation is that the winning drawings will influence the culture of development in Knoxville—a good example of the real-world agency of academic discourse.”
The jurors said, “Missing middle housing is a critical issue that architects can play an important role in addressing in their communities. Seeing all the different creative approaches and concepts to designing ADUs was quite refreshing and will hopefully spark further conversations in the Knoxville and East Tennessee communities. We selected [six] submissions in the two categories for their design merits.”
In the ‘Small Footprint’ category, which included studio and one-bedroom homes of 500 square feet or less, the jury selected “On Writing Home” by Cameron S. Bolin (MArch ’14), “Shifting Phantom ADUs” by Sanders Pace Architecture, founded by alumni John Sanders (’97) and Brandon Pace (’97), “54321” by Jonah Pruitt, and “Minimal Living Prefabricated ADU” by Professor and Dean Emerita Marleen Kay Davis.
“This was a win/win/win concept,” said Davis. “We were able to have faculty and students collaborating, while supporting AIA East Tennessee. I was pleased to work with a great fourth year student Micah Kincaid.”
In the category ‘Standard ADU’, which included two-bedroom-homes of up to 750SF, jurors selected “Bento House” by Jakob Mikres (BArch ’24) and “Common Ground” by Marion Forbes (BArch ’14).