Simmons STUDIO Architects and Johnson Architecture of Knoxville earned a Brick in Architecture Award from the Brick Industry Association for their co-designed 1,200 seat dining hall. The Rocky Top facility is the new hub of student life at UT Knoxville, and the centerpiece of the West Campus Redevelopment project at the University of Tennessee, a collection of collegiate neo-Gothic structures weaved together with a rich fabric of brick, stone and clay tile roofs. The project captured the Silver Higher Education 2023 Award from the BIA.
The $42.5M project uses over 300,000 bricks from General Shale Brick Co., laid by Gentry & Painter, Inc., and features a monumental brick hearth in the fifty foot tall main dining hall. “The sustainable choice for 100-year building design is masonry, and the durable beauty of the material continues to shine in high-performance building design,” notes Bob Simmons, founder of Simmons STUDIO Architects.
Atrium Stair Robert Batey Photography
West Campus Dining Commons and Pedestrian Promenade Robert Batey Photography