The jury was impressed by the overall quality, range, and ambition of this year’s AIA Tennessee Design Awards submissions. Across 98 entries, the work demonstrated a strong commitment to design excellence at multiple scales, from intimate residential and interior interventions to major civic, educational, cultural, and public-realm projects.
Several themes emerged throughout the jury’s review. The strongest submissions demonstrated a clear architectural idea carried through with discipline, restraint, and technical refinement. The jury was especially encouraged by projects that found opportunity in difficult constraints, including adaptive reuse, historic preservation, infrastructure, environmental repair, and complex urban conditions. Many of the awarded projects showed how architecture can transform inherited conditions into places of renewed civic, social, and environmental value.
The jury also noted the strength of work that balanced design ambition with care for context. Whether through the preservation of historic fabric, the reuse of obsolete structures, the shaping of public space, or the creation of dignified everyday environments, the most compelling projects were those that elevated their programs beyond utility. These projects demonstrated that architecture can be both beautiful and generous; both precise and transformative.
The jury encourages continued attention to the breadth of architectural practice represented in Tennessee, including interiors, renovations, new construction, civic space, public art, housing, landscape, and small-scale work. The strongest submissions showed that design excellence is not limited by project size, budget, or type, but is instead found in clarity of intent, depth of execution, and the ability of a project to enrich the lives of those it serves.
Award of Excellence
Restoration and Renovation
From Rail to River
UrbanARCH Associates, P.C.
This project demonstrates the transformative power of a clear architectural and urban vision. What could have remained a utilitarian complex has been reimagined as a generous civic landscape that reconnects people, place, and infrastructure. The project works across multiple scales, from the broader riverfront strategy to the careful shaping of public space, creating a new identity for a once-overlooked site. The jury admired the project’s ability to turn inherited industrial conditions into a meaningful and memorable public realm.
Award of Excellence
New Construction
Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park
Sanders Pace Architects
This project is an extraordinary example of regenerative design. From the reclamation of the quarry itself to the elegance of the pavilions, pathways, signage, and public amenities, the project demonstrates how architecture and landscape can repair, reveal, and celebrate a place. The jury was especially impressed by the integration of recreation, art, ecology, and environmental performance into a cohesive and inspiring public experience. Every element feels considered, contextual, and generous, making this project a powerful model for civic stewardship.
Award of Excellence
New Construction
Period 8 House
Michael Goorevich, Architect
This residence is beautifully composed, exquisitely detailed, and deeply restrained. The jury admired the project’s proportional clarity, material warmth, and careful balance between openness and intimacy. Its covered outdoor spaces, refined detailing, and relationship to the landscape elevate the house beyond a private retreat into a thoughtful study of domestic architecture. The result is elegant, quiet, and enduring.
Award of Merit
Architectural Interior Design
Kitchen Addition
Michael Goorevich, Architect
Adding a contemporary volume to a traditional house requires careful judgment, and this project succeeds through balance, restraint, and refinement. The new kitchen and side entry addition are light-filled, warm, and compelling, while remaining respectful of the original home. The jury appreciated the project’s attention to detail and its ability to create a contemporary interior experience that feels complementary rather than imposed.
Award of Merit
Architectural Interior Design
The Waymark Hotel
HK Architects
The rebirth of a historic landmark contributes significantly to the architectural richness of its city. This project demonstrates a sensitive balance between preservation and renewal, celebrating the integrity of the original building while bringing new life to its interior spaces. The jury appreciated the care, refinement, and attention to detail throughout the project, particularly the way it walks the fine line between honoring historic character and creating a contemporary hospitality experience.
Award of Merit
Restoration and Renovation
Townsend Renovation
archimania
This renovation demonstrates the value of a strategic and disciplined design approach. Rather than overreaching, the project uses a light touch to transform circulation into a clear service spine that anchors the home. The jury admired how a simple and elegant intervention brings clarity, functionality, and renewed spatial character to the existing bungalow. It is a thoughtful example of how small architectural moves can produce a meaningful transformation.
Award of Merit
Restoration and Renovation
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Garden Pavilion
archimania
This project is adaptive reuse at its best. An abandoned and obsolete hospital cooling tower has been transformed into a beautiful gathering place and garden respite, creating a much-needed moment of calm within a dense institutional setting. The jury admired the project’s ability to reveal the power of the original concrete structure while introducing light, landscape, and human occupation in a completely new way. It is an extraordinary example of how architecture can find unexpected value in overlooked infrastructure.
Award of Merit
Restoration and Renovation
Christ Church Cathedral
EOA Architects
This project carefully lifts up and frames the historic church through a new architectural intervention that is both deferential and contemporary. The jury admired the way the new “veil” creates transparency, connection, and a meaningful dialogue between old and new. The interior details are simple, clean, and refined, allowing the historic fabric to remain central while giving the place new life and relevance. It is a thoughtful and respectful addition to an important civic and sacred space.
Award of Merit
New Construction
Madison Lofts
archimania
This project brings energy and architectural presence to an urban commercial street through a clear use of form, material, and spatial orientation. The jury appreciated how a seemingly simple bar building is elevated through careful detailing and a dynamic response to its context. Its contrasting public and private expressions create a refreshing and memorable solution without compromising the overall design clarity. The project offers a strong example for walkable urban development.
Award of Merit
New Construction
Mobile Art Gallery
McCarty Holsaple McCarty Architects, Inc
This small project makes a large impact. Clever, playful, adaptable, and highly accessible, the mobile pop-up gallery demonstrates how design excellence can operate at the micro scale by meeting people where they are. The jury admired how constraints became a source of invention, producing a flexible exhibit system that brings art, dignity, and cultural access to broader audiences. It is a compelling reminder that architecture can be powerful even when modest in size and cost.
Award of Merit
New Construction
2178 Monroe
archimania
This infill residence is unapologetically modern while remaining warm, livable, and carefully modulated. The jury admired the sequence of interior spaces and the project’s ability to create openness and connection to the outdoors while maintaining privacy for the residents. The design demonstrates a thoughtful balance between urban infill, domestic intimacy, and architectural clarity.
Award of Merit
New Construction
James Lawson High School
HASTINGS Architecture
School buildings play an especially important role in shaping how young people understand the value of design. This project creates an environment that supports learning, collaboration, and community with a level of care not always seen in this building type. The jury admired its elegant use of materials, generous social spaces, stepped seating, double-height volumes, and flexible openings that transform educational space into an active and collaborative setting. It is a high-performing building that quietly integrates sustainability, site responsiveness, and student-centered design.
Award of Merit
New Construction
Emblem Park
EOA Architects + Manuel Zeitlin Architects
This large multifamily development demonstrates the importance of design at multiple scales. The jury admired how the project creates identity through massing, materiality, and the integration of existing structures. The adaptive reuse component is especially compelling, serving both as design inspiration and as a reminder that new development can build meaning from what is already there. The project successfully balances density, memory, and neighborhood transition.