Tennessee School for the Deaf

The new high school for the Tennessee School for the Deaf is a 70,000 SF facility designed to meet the unique needs of deaf students. The program boasts a lobby and library space that serves both high school and middle school students, as well as the community and alumni. The classrooms are collaborative spaces that focus on sight lines for communication and incorporate many other design features that improve the space for communicating in sign language. Some of these features include space planning to provide sight lines for all occupants; maximizing daylighting; minimizing glare through light shelves, indirect lighting, and finish selections; and emphasizing acoustical design for students with cochlear implants. The program for the high school also includes post-secondary preparation and work-based learning opportunities for students that include administrative assistance, a school store, and a café that serves food prepared by the culinary arts program that resides in the dining hall, designed in concert with the high school.

The new high school allows TSD to expand enrollment, which serves deaf children from the entire state of Tennessee. The new dining hall for the Tennessee School for the Deaf is a 16,000 SF facility that replaces an outdated dining hall. The dining hall serves all students on the campus from K-12 as well as the TSD faculty and staff. The cafeteria serves up to 250 for dining and can serve up to 500 for other events. The kitchen space allows the dining staff to prepare meals for students and staff during the day and distribute food to the cottages where the students that remain on campus eat in the evening. The dining hall also provides an outdoor patio for eating and socializing that overlooks the pedestrian quadrangle.