Music Row Modern

Project Location: Nashville, TN  
Project Type: New Construction  
Completion Date: March 2017  

Music Row Modern is a 2-story commercial office building with subterranean basement parking on a corner of Music Row, one of Nashville’s most storied historic districts.

Nashville’s heart-where our most-treasured songs have been written- is known worldwide as Music Row. We were chosen to design a commercial space on 17th Avenue South that would honor and blend into this beloved neighborhood. Older, historic, 2-story adjacent homes drove design discussions and inspired us to create a structure honoring its “own time and place” while being a “good neighbor” to older buildings.

An abnormally – shaped corner lot, plus very restrictive historic overlay requirements, demanded our design adapt to varied contextual responses while providing all necessary functions and program requirements.  For this environment housing healthcare services and support programs, our objective was a contemporary space providing warmth, safety, and security.

A front-facing, 2 story gable element lowers itself to orient the building in perfect alignment with pre-existing structures along 17th. Because this site is 23 degrees off-square, the building turns to align and another taller gable element provides a different response oriented toward the side street.

To provide passive solar-shading, large box shaped around southern-facing fenestration march up and away from the corner. The building wraps and conceals a courtyard-a private outdoor amenity daylighting the interior.

The rear sloping site allowed hidden parking underneath with rear access from an alley to allow the building to meet sidewalks on a pedestrian scale, important as the structure fronts 17th Avenue South. All materials and colors display a modern style and, to focus construction funds onto now fully-utilized patient areas, the asphalt roof became a cost-efficient solution.