Knoxville Station Transit Center

Knoxville, TN

Mason Contractor: Tom Brunton Masonry, Inc.
Architect: Bullock Smith and Partners; McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Inc.
General Contractor: Johnson and Galyon, Inc.
Suppliers: Jenkins Brick and Tile Co. ; General Shale Brick
Owner: Public Building Authority of the County of Knox

Project Description

The Knoxville Station Transit Center is a new $29 million dollar, 108,000 square foot center. McCarty Holsaple McCarty joined with local architecture firm Bullock Smith & Partners to create a joint venture project team. The owner and the project team are committed to creating a sustainable building.

The Transit Center will provide a dedicated bus station hub to service the Knoxville metro area. The new center will include a covered loading area, a lobby where riders can wait in warmth or air conditioning and a system that shows riders where their bus is on its route. The station includes 20 bus bays at a single protected platform, trolley stop at front door, with transit rider amenities such as bathrooms, a service counter, and vending machines.

The location of Knoxville Station Transit Center provides an opportunity to design a unique building type. The center design creates an urban bridge plaza over an existing roadway. The bridge will provide a pedestrian link to the downtown business district.

This transit station will be the central hub and gateway that connects all of Knoxville to the heart of downtown and beyond. The buildings creative design, artistry, technology and energy efficiency reflect Knoxville’s attitude of a forward thinking community. The masonry work on the building is a combination of Brick and Arriscraft veneer. These materials provide a unique and innovative look, providing lasting durability and sustainability, and help attain MR credits. The environmental features reflect Knoxville’s respect for the beauty of the city and the region, and the desire to maintain that beauty for all of our residents.

Knoxville Transit Station is scheduled to be operational in the beginning of August 2010. This landmark state-of-the-art facility has many energy efficient features, from geothermal heating and cooling to the green roof, all of which are indicative of KAT’s slogan “Ride for Change”. These futures not only reduce the carbon footprint, but they also save on costs.

Transit Center design team is attempting to achieve Silver certification for the project through the USGBC’s (US Green Building Council) LEED for New Construction v2.2 program by designing for excellence in five categories of construction:

• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy & atmosphere
• Materials & resources
• Indoor environmental quality

Date of Project Completion: July 2010

Photography by Andrea Rzad