University of Tennessee, Knoxville Honored With Awards for Beautification Efforts

  • 03/01/19

KNOXVILLE, TN – The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) has been honored for its efforts to beautify campus by the 2019 Orchid Awards, a Keep Knoxville Beautiful program that celebrates Knoxville and Knox County’s most attractive properties.

Awards were presented in seven categories. The Ken and Blaire Mossman Building won in the new architecture category, while UT Gardens received the Mary Lou Horner Beautification Award.

Named for the late Ken and Blaire Mossman, the 221,000-square-foot, six-floor Mossman Building opened in September 2018. The building houses microbiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, psychology, and nutrition. It features interactive classrooms, gathering spaces and study areas throughout the building, and a checkerboard theme on the exterior. The building’s collegiate Gothic style links it thematically with other new campus buildings.

Recognized in 2013 as the official botanical gardens of Tennessee, the UT Gardens function as an outdoor laboratory to evaluate the performance and landscape use of every type of plant, from trees and shrubs to annuals and perennials to ornamental grasses and aquatic plants. The gardens are a part of the UT Institute of Agriculture.

The Orchid Awards have been held annually since 1979.

Featured

  • California Boarding School Opens New Inquiry Collaborative Facility

    Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, Calif., for students grades 9–12, recently announced that it has finished renovating a historic dining hall into a new academic hub, according to a news release. The school partnered with Blackbird Architects and Tangram Interiors on the two-story, 16,000-square-foot Inquiry Collaborative.

  • Texas A&M Breaks Ground on Campus Visitor Center

    Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new campus learning hub and visitor center, according to a news release. The 211,000-square-foot Aplin Center will stand three stories and is scheduled to open to students in 2028.

  • University of Kansas Opens $400M Football Stadium Reconstruction

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently announced that the $400-million reconstruction of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is complete in time for the 2025 football season, according to a news release. The university partnered with Turner Construction Company on the project.

  • University of West Florida Opens New Laboratory Facility

    The University of West Florida recently announced that renovation work is complete on a new lab building for its campus in Pensacola, Fla., according to university news. Building 80 will serve as the home to the university’s civil engineering program and the Tyler Chase Norwood Construction Management Program.