I was the team leader / lead projectdesigner on this masterplan for a new town center for Alcoa, TN located on a 450-acre tract in Blount County, TN. A collaborative effort between the Citiesof Oak Ridge, Maryville, Alcoa, and Oak Ridge as well as private developers,this project is to become the southern anchor for the Knoxville Oak Ridge Innovation Valley. The initial concept was clear; being located minutes from McGheeTyson Airport, the site and development was ideally suited to carry research driven technologies from Oak Ridge National Laboratories including the new Spallation Neutron Source and the University of Tennessee into the private sector for development and implementation.
When I started work on this project preliminary work had already begun that had the project moving in the direction of simply becoming a high-tech corporate office park. In typical office park fashion, the development was segregated from the neighboring communities with only 2 planned entrances off primary roads. Additionally, the original schemes planned a segregation of its intended uses.
What started as a good idea with a great confluence of components had the makings of becoming something much bigger. Alcoa, TN, named after the Aluminum Company of America, was a little city without a city. Located between Knoxville and Maryville, the City of Alcoa existed in area and idea only with no city center at all.
By re-envisioning this project as a vertically integrated mixed-use development that included commercial, office, research and development, light industrial, and residential and that would use its new infrastructure to knit together the adjacent communities this project became the perfect opportunity to give Alcoa a center.
One big challenge remained. The site was located at what was the current end of Pellisippi Parkway and TDOT had planned the extension of the parkway to cut directly through the middle of the proposed property as a surface barrier that would split the development in two. A proposal was taken to and accepted by TDOT that would elevate the extension through the development to reach the plateau at the far end of the site. This allowed surface streets to connect through the entire development and under- parkway land to be utilized as parking.
Another key idea of the master planwas that of a fully integrated green development. The entire site was envisioned to behave as a single, cohesive unit, with all buildings contributing to the totality of the sustainable development. Photovoltaics, geothermal fields, and green roof technologies were used on a community-widescale. The design also included several parks, greenbelts, and a centralized public green at the heart of the masterplan.
Lead Project Designer @ CDP.
Project was collaborative effort between CDP & Benefield Richters.
When I started work on this project preliminary work had already begun that had the project moving in the direction of simply becoming a high-tech corporate office park. In typical office park fashion, the development was segregated from the neighboring communities with only 2 planned entrances off primary roads. Additionally, the original schemes planned a segregation of its intended uses.
What started as a good idea with a great confluence of components had the makings of becoming something much bigger. Alcoa, TN, named after the Aluminum Company of America, was a little city without a city. Located between Knoxville and Maryville, the City of Alcoa existed in area and idea only with no city center at all.
By re-envisioning this project as a vertically integrated mixed-use development that included commercial, office, research and development, light industrial, and residential and that would use its new infrastructure to knit together the adjacent communities this project became the perfect opportunity to give Alcoa a center.
One big challenge remained. The site was located at what was the current end of Pellisippi Parkway and TDOT had planned the extension of the parkway to cut directly through the middle of the proposed property as a surface barrier that would split the development in two. A proposal was taken to and accepted by TDOT that would elevate the extension through the development to reach the plateau at the far end of the site. This allowed surface streets to connect through the entire development and under- parkway land to be utilized as parking.
Another key idea of the master planwas that of a fully integrated green development. The entire site was envisioned to behave as a single, cohesive unit, with all buildings contributing to the totality of the sustainable development. Photovoltaics, geothermal fields, and green roof technologies were used on a community-widescale. The design also included several parks, greenbelts, and a centralized public green at the heart of the masterplan.
Lead Project Designer @ CDP.
Project was collaborative effort between CDP & Benefield Richters.
Program Distribution Diagram - Massing
Program Distribution Diagram - Commercial
Program Distribution Diagram - Office
Program Distribution Diagram - Research & Development
Program Distribution Diagram - Industrial
Program Distribution Diagram - Residential
Program Distribution Diagram - All
Conceptional Sections illustrating proposed character, development density, and elevated highway.
Birdseye Perspective of entire development - rendering produced by Dede Christopher.
Birdseye Perspective of Public Green - rendering produced by Dede Christopher.
View towards Public Green - rendering produced by Dede Christopher.
