Ribbon Cutting at Beardsley Farm

Faculty, staff, students and the community are invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house to commemorate the completion of the new Education Center at Beardsley Community Farm, Monday, May 9, at 10:30 a.m. Mayor Rogero will dedicate the building, which was designed and largely constructed through the efforts of College of Architecture and Design students and faculty.  The farm is located at 1741 Reynolds Street, Knoxville TN, 37921.

Professors Bob French and Jennifer Akerman have worked with more than 50 students over the past two years as the project went from concept to construction and now is nearing completion. The building fulfills the needs of the college’s client, Beardsley Community Farm, a non-profit urban farm that produces food for Mobile Meals and other area non-profits that provide food to people in need. The farm and its new education center are located in the Malcolm Martin Park in Mechanicsville.

The architecture is designed to enhance Beardsley Farm’s mission of engaging the community by creating meaningful public space for the benefit of local residents, volunteers, and the farm staff. The new building will serve as a home base for the farm, creating a new front door to its educational farm. The design features significant public amenities, including an amphitheater and outdoor classroom. The building itself provides a classroom, honey-processing facilities, office space, and restrooms. The primary structure is triple-wythe load-bearing brick, detailed to take advantage of historic structural methods while also innovatively addressing thermal performance and water mitigation. General Shale generously donated all brick and mortar used on the project and provided support for students to learn the craft of masonry from master mason J.C. Newman.

The project is a collaboration of faculty and students from the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design, through the Design/ Build/ Evaluate Initiative (Akerman project lead and French), the City of Knoxville, the Public Building Authority, Elizabeth Eason Architecture and Merit Construction. The project has benefited from the generous support of General Shale, the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Paulk + Co., Stonepeak Tile, Keene Building Products, Columbia Forest Products, Baird & Wilson, and many others.

Read the college’s annual report for more on Beardsley Farm.