University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Learning Center

As one of the top schools of Veterinary Medicine in the country, the University of Tennessee planned an expansion to their existing facility in order to provide a state-of-the-art Clinical Skills Simulation Laboratory, two flexible Teaching Labs, and a 130-seat tiered auditorium-style “Central Hall” that provides lecture space for first and second-year students. The TLC is a prominent building on the UTIA campus, as it is the first one encountered when entering campus from the west on Joe Johnson Drive. The original structure was built in 1976, with three major building additions taking place over the last twenty years.

The design team was tasked with utilizing the last remaining open space on the College of Veterinary Medicine’s site. The addition’s main function is to provide new teaching spaces, but it also serves as the new “front door” to the CVM and the adjoining Pendergrass Library. The addition adds over 19,000 SF to the existing +/- 400,000 SF building. The site was complicated, primarily due to its long and narrow dimensions of 300’ feet long with just 50’ feet of width in most areas. Another complexity was integrating the addition with the existing building, which stayed in service throughout construction. The design response considers the building’s original massing and circulation patterns, and responds with an inside-out design approach in order to maintain existing conditions, while introducing strong relationships between the existing and new programs.

Programmatically, the building consists of three primary “rooms,” each separated by a central Concourse which provides circulation and collaboration space, while doubling as a new Reading Room for the adjacent Pendergrass Library. Access to these rooms is provided from smaller quiet study spaces that act as transition zones between the Concourse and the new teaching spaces. Their entries are punctuated by north-facing skylights that flank each side of the mechanical spaces.

The material palette pulls from the original historic palette found on the campus of the UTIA. Brick, limestone, and terracotta materials clad these iconic structures. With limestone and terracotta noticeably absent from the original 1976 building, these two materials serve as the primary palette for the new addition.

Framework for Design Excellence

The AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence has served as a useful tool in establishing goals and targets as we strive to design more sustainable, equitable communities. Relevant aspects of this project as related to the Framework include:

Design for Integration
At the outset of the project guiding principles were established in order to pay respect to the building’s context and the history of the University’s campus. These guiding principles are as follows:
GUIDING PRINCIPLE #1
Design an iconic building that serves as the Gateway to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and unifies the entry into the College of Veterinary Medicine.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE #2
Treat the building site as an extension of the University of Tennessee Gardens, and incorporate elements that celebrate the unique regional identity and topography of East Tennessee.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE #3
Respect and enhance the forms and language of the original College of Veterinary Medicine Building.

Design for Economy
The College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Learning Center is a 20,000 SF addition to a 24-hour teaching hospital. The project included upgrades to a 40+ year existing building to modernize an aging facility and address long-deferred life safety issues. The project utilizes the infrastructure of the existing building including chilled water and steam from a central plant which reduces the environmental load of the addition.
Programmatically the building’s efficient footprint provides large, flexible spaces for simulated procedures and organized lectures along with a multi-purpose gathering space serving both College of Veterinary Medicine and Pendergrass Library functions.

Design for Energy
The building’s envelope includes continuous exterior mineral wool insulation along the entirety of the building’s perimeter. Large expansive glazed openings occur along the building’s northeastern exposure. North-facing skylights provide diffused daylight into study spaces which provide access into the building’s primary zones. A terracotta rainscreen system provides a layered enclosure for the building, dissolving at openings into the Simulation Lab and Central Hall which have with vertical terracotta baguettes protecting openings from the setting western sun.

Design for Wellbeing
The building’s entry is designed to enhance the entry sequence and experience for users entering the College of Veterinary Medicine. The North Garden space provides outdoor seating opportunities connecting faculty and staff to nature including a preserved Dawn Redwood planted at the time of the original building’s construction.

Design for Resources
As an State-owned public institutional building and public investment the design team stressed the importance of resiliency and durability of materials from the outset. The building’s program and size was reduced to ensure that appropriate and long-lasting materials could be used. The building’s exterior material palette is limited to two primary materials, limestone and terracotta which should allow for the building’s lifespan to extend far beyond the short-sited materials palettes commonly chosen for buildings which prioritize space over longevity.