Knoxville Utilities Board Engineering Building

Beginning with a master planning effort on this campus, KUB and the architectural firm identified strategies to add space and functionality to an important existing facility.

To meet the needs of a growing engineering staff and attract young talent, a local utility recognized the need to expand out of its undersized and dated facility. Rather than constructing a new, larger building on an existing green field site, the project team took an innovative approach adding a modern glass building on an established parking area, expanding the capacity of the existing building, and creating a more formal outdoor space for employees to enjoy. A new glass entrance delicately connects the addition and existing building, a move that respects and celebrates the relationship between old and new.

The entire project scope consists of a 3-story, 56,000 SF addition adjacent to the existing Engineering + Operations Building on KUB’s Hoskins campus. The new building is connected to the existing Engineering + Operations Building by bridges at floors 1-3 in a 3-story glass enclosure with a monumental staircase.

The existing campus has a recognizable language characterized by finned, precast concrete panels on a repetitive five-foot rhythm, prevalent among public service architecture throughout the Tennessee Valley. This iconic language was reinterpreted in the new structure, replacing the precast rhythm with a finned, aluminum curtain wall on the same module, maximizing daylighting for all occupants. To help define a new culture of collaboration for the company, all support spaces were consolidated to a support core, maximizing open office space and views. The light-filled, open office is wrapped by various highly transparent collaboration spaces to encourage project teams to connect regularly, formally, and informally. Each floor consists of a core and a large open office suite. The core, adjacent to the atrium, contains restrooms, elevators, storage, printing, and mechanical rooms. A series of offices and conference rooms occupy the west wall of the office suite.

The project has received LEED Certification. In sync with the company’s forward focus on stewardship of our natural resources, the project’s sustainable design strategies are a visual testament to modern resource systems and model responsible leadership toward the environment for the entire community. Sustainable strategies throughout the building include a rooftop solar array, limited water usage inside and out, EV charging stations, efficient lighting, mechanical systems available for demand response, and low-emitting materials selections.