November 6, 2023
Johnson Architecture has earned national honors from Spaces4Learning for the firm’s education facility designs of Lakeway Christian Academy and the University of Tennessee’s Rocky Top Dining Hall.
The design of Lakeway Christian Academy, located in White Pine, Tennessee, earned the grand prize for K-12 new construction in Education Design Showcase. Rocky Top Dining Hall received the project of distinction award for higher education new construction.
Education Design Showcase winners entries were judged by a jury of administrators, architects and facility planners for excellence in design and functional planning for education.
“This award is shared by Johnson Architecture and our partners on the Lakeway Christian Academy and Rocky Top Dining Hall projects,” said Daryl Johnson, founder and president of the Knoxville-based firm. “As we designed these projects, the intent was to create functional, cost-effective and secure environments for the students. We fully appreciate this recognition in the Education Design Showcase.”
Lakeway Christian Academy includes a 202,740-square-foot high school and middle school with an auxiliary gymnasium, 1,500-seat gymnasium, modern classrooms and a performing arts center that accommodates 1,200. These areas meet educational needs through engaging learning environments, places for physical activity and sports, and spaces to foster creativity through various performing arts.
An adjacent sports complex includes a 30,500-square-foot fieldhouse with indoor practice facilities, 2,000-seat football stadium, baseball and softball fields, tennis courts and a track. The structures coordinate with the surrounding landscape while offering a modern aesthetic. Johnson Architecture developed a 43-acre site for the campus, delivering a design with functional elements to meet the client’s goals.
Rocky Top Dining Hall is a state-of-the-art facility and the anchor and hub of student life for the West Campus Redevelopment project. The structure includes a 1,200-seat dining hall, campus bakery, Chick-fil-A restaurant, convenience store and 50-foot vaulted main dining room with a massive, exposed brick fireplace and chimney.
Since the building needed to fit with the Gothic architectural style of the UT campus and be stable, durable, beautiful and able to withstand East Tennessee’s diverse climate, cladding the facility in brick was a natural design choice for longevity.
