The entry to the CoAD Exchange welcomes visitors with a clear reception point, informal seating, and an open corridor that encourages movement and connection.
The College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) is reimagining its operations center as construction is underway to transform its administrative suite in the Art + Architecture Building. The new, dynamic, and collaborative space, now known as the CoAD Exchange, is designed to reflect the college’s growth, evolving identity, and vision.
“The CoAD Exchange will be a vibrant, welcoming hub designed to elevate how we connect with students, faculty, staff, and visitors,” said Dean Jason Young. “We’ve asked ourselves: how do we want to work and collaborate given that the administrative structure of the college has changed so much since the building was originally designed.”
This construction is part of a broader, college-wide effort to elevate all workspaces, ensuring that administrative, academic, and collaborative environments alike support the college’s people, mission, and continued growth.
In early 1980s, the Art + Architecture Building welcomed students, faculty, and staff of the School of Architecture and the Department of Art. The award-winning structure was designed through a competition won by alumnus Doug McCarty (’72) and his father, legendary Knoxville modernist Bruce McCarty, of McCarty Holsaple McCarty Architects.
What was the School of Architecture is now the College of Architecture and Design, home to four schools, 800 students, and 100 faculty and staff. Changes in the administrative space were much needed. The CoAD Exchange will focus on community and collaboration.
Leading the project is Smith Gee Studio (SGS), a Nashville-based, alumni-owned firm with a deep understanding of the college’s culture and architectural legacy. SGS has designed a space that responds to the college’s academic and workplace needs while honoring the building’s decisive material qualities.
“The college’s administrative suite had not seen much change since the building was completed,” said Hunter Gee, FAIA, one of the firm’s principals and a 1992 School of Architecture alumnus.
Gee and the project team reviewed the McCartys’ original drawings to honor the building while focusing on the college’s vision.
“It was really important that we examine those,” he said. “Not only for technical reasons, such as locating the systems, but also to respect tradition and the building’s architectural integrity. It has been a meaningful and rewarding challenge.”
The renovation embraces the original cast-in-place concrete structure that anchors the Art + Architecture Building’s character. The Exchange envelops a portion of the open corridor at the edge of the building’s multistory atrium, a design SGS found in McCarty’s original drawings. Seamless glazing and the Exchange’s open plan reveal views from the atrium to the campus beyond. This transparency transforms the administrative area into an active front door—visually connecting the college’s leadership and staff with the broader academic community.
Visitors to the Exchange will experience well-defined, open work zones and touchdown spaces to promote connection, teamwork, and a shared sense of purpose.
The project team was led by SGS, but included Facility Systems for engineering and JE Dunn for construction, which began early last fall and is being completed in phases to minimize disruption in the Art + Architecture Building, which remains fully operational during the renovation.
The renovated workplace will include named spaces connecting philanthropic investment to daily life within the college. Donor support to the Dean’s Excellence Endowment enables the college to confidently invest in design education, support faculty and staff, and unlock students’ potential by providing resources for innovative design concepts that will shape the future.
The CoAD Exchange is anticipated to open this summer. Individuals interested in learning more about naming opportunities are encouraged to email the college’s advancement team.