Nashville Warehouse Co.
Large Project (over 25,000 sf)
Purpose-built for the pedestrian, the public and its place, Nashville Warehouse Co. is the city’s first large-scale, modern mass-timber building at the center of a 5.2-acre redevelopment designed to be uniquely of its place. Three connected structures feature distinctive gable roofs inspired by rail sheds of the adjacent L&N Railroad. This groundbreaking project ignited development in the entire South Nashville district
Awards Year | 2024
Project Statement
Nashville Warehouse Co. is the city’s first large-scale mass timber project that lives at the center of a 5.2-acre ground-up redevelopment site that offers 200,000 sf of Class A office space, public pedestrian spaces, and an acre of communal green space 1.2 miles from downtown.
The design challenge was to integrate a historic parcel with We-Ho’s bustling, growing arts district. The now-vacant site needed welcoming architecture that echoed the scale and texture of the past, connected to the local creative scene and offered an activated public space.
The architect leveraged the area’s rich history—related to railroads, the Civil War, military forts and landmarked cemeteries—for context. The plan is organized along a central axis, echoing a traditional rail spur, and allows for two distinct types of architectural expression. On the south, three gable-roofed office buildings emulate traditional L&N rail depots to hold the street corner. In a parallel assembly, the corrugated metal cladding and heavy timber construction reflect a utilitarian history. To the north, masonry, steel and concrete residential and parking structures echo design elements of the original, demolished Nashville Warehouse Co.
Nashville Warehouse Co. builds on the history of the site while meeting rigorous Class-A office standards. Narrow floor plates and 14-foot floor-to-floor heights provide for voluminous interior spaces, expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, and quality daylighting deep within the floorplates. Interior office areas showcase the warmth and detail of the exposed glue-laminated columns, girders and purlins, and DLT slab construction. The open expression of the detailed gable roof framing at the building’s upper floors offers vaulted ceiling heights reaching nearly 30 feet tall and panoramic views of the downtown skyline to the north. The exterior of the building is clad in a charcoal-colored corrugated metal cladding, emphasizing the gable roof forms at the north and south. Staggered, steel-framed exterior terraces along the south facade enhance the tenant experience while providing dynamic activity along the Chestnut Street frontage. Three monumental masonry cross gables front the public lawn on the West façade, featuring an extensive steel canopy at the ground floor to mark the main entry for the project’s anchor tenant.
Both structures and the central axis are bookended by public pedestrian spaces that welcome in the surrounding neighborhood.
Nashville Warehouse Co. harmonizes the best qualities of historic loft space with modern mass-timber technology, complementing the creative identity that runs deep in this city and attracting the entertainment anchor tenant.
Framework for Design Excellence Narrative
1. **Design for Integration**
The building’s design draws influence from the history of the site, which is adjacent to a prominent rail junction that helped influence Nashville’s early growth. Blending scale, texture, open space and public art, the distinct milk-carton silhouette of Nashville Warehouse Co. harmonizes the best qualities of historic loft space with modern mass-timber technology, complementing the creative identity that runs deep in this city and attracting the entertainment anchor tenant. The mural installation highlights the local art and music scene and with the relocated scoreboard, defines the new arts district.
1. **Design for Equitable Communitie**s
Both structures and the central axis are bookended by public pedestrian spaces that welcome in the surrounding neighborhood. At the southwest corner of the site stands The Outfield, an expansive, one-acre public lawn focused on a central band shell and the repurposed guitar-shaped baseball scoreboard that once graced neighboring Greer Stadium. The Outfield hosts the Wedgewood Houston Farmers’ Market, live usic and other active programming for the community. A smaller pedestrian plaza that anchors the northeast side of the site features seven monumental 20’ x 80’ public murals that serve as a visual gateway to Wedgewood-Houston on 4th Avenue South. Organized in a sawtooth array, the murals address the geometry of the street and the angled plaza welcoming visitors into the site from the north.
1. **Design for Well-Being**
Nashville’s first large-scale mass timber building anchors a pedestrian friendly mixed-use community where the historic context is incorporated into modern development in an authentic way. DLT floors sit on staggered glulam girders and purlins, which allowed for efficiency in materials and allowed all MEP to be routed above, expressing the beauty of the timber. Mass timber provides sustainable benefits, including each timber member permanently sequesters carbon, and wood is a completely renewable resource. The warmth of the material also contributes to the wellness of building occupants. Also, the structure is the finish so less material, such as drywall, is needed. The guitar scoreboard was salvaged from the minor league ballpark next door.
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LEED/Green Certifications
**WiredScore Certified** – This certification distinguishes buildings that are optimized with digital infrastructure in place to support tenant needs now and in the future. The WiredScore certification for offices’ scorecards measure key aspects of a building’s digital capabilities, ranging from its ability to adapt to future technology, to the overall quality of the user experience.
Photo Captions
03 – View facing south façade, illustrating cantilevered gable roof and structural steel exterior terraces
04 – South elevation, cantilevered gable end roof showcases a unique architectural expression
05 – 5th Floor Office Plan, which boasts unobstructed City of Nashville views. DLT roof panels allow for interior expression of timber material in its nature form.
06 – View at Chestnut Street and South Façade
07 – View facing the Office Building North façade and Precast Parking Garage Shingle Mural wall panels which pays homage to Nashville’s Country Music History 08 – Intermediate Elevation showcases verticality and corrugated metal panels, which is an ode to the site’s industrial past
09 – Typical Retail Entry at Ground Floor
10 - The building utilizes a mixture of masonry and corrugated metal panel at the exterior enclosure
11 – The ‘outfield’ plays host to the Wedgewood Houston Farmer’s Market which is held monthly ‘Under the Giant Guitar!’
12 – Iconic Guitar sign, which was adapted from existing scoreboard for the Nashville Sounds Minor League baseball team and restored as a classic backdrop for the site
13 – Bird’s Eye view of Nashville Warehouse Co. Campus
14 – Site Plans
15 – Building Plans for Ground Level and Typical Office Floor
