Course | Spring 2020 Interior Arch. Studio
Professor | Cheryl Baxter
Location | N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN
Awards | Crossville Tile Inc. Competition Winner, 2020 and Metropolis Future 100, 2021
Publication | Metropolis Future 100, 2021
The mission of the Nook is to provide a recreational community space for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder that is supported by a tea, pottery, and garden retail space. Through gardening and similar activities, the children can explore their senses in a fun and engaging way, while their parents have the opportunity to create a supportive community within the comfort of the relaxing retail space. The upstairs community space for the children was developed in the construction documents phase by Allie Bierman, so the portion featured here is the retail space. The retail space helps to fund the children’s community center upstairs. The purpose of the retail space at the Nook is to provide a space for community. Through research in the Knoxville area, it became evident that parents whose children have Autism Spectrum Disorder are wanting a space to develop a community amongst the parents. Therefore, this retail space serves as an opportunity to develop that community while also allowing other community members to support the children’s center. By creating various layers of privacy, this retail space becomes a community center of its own as it aims to support a variety of needs.
[Programming and Schematic Design for the Community Center and Retail was completed in collaboration with Allie Bierman]
[Design Development and Construction Documents for the Retail Space were completed by Caitlin Turner]
