MZA worked with the University School of Nashville (USN), a K-12 secular private school adjacent to Vanderbilt University, on a centennial building project to meet a broad range of needs for the school as USN entered its next century. The renovation acknowledges both the client’s modern use of its home within a 1925 McKim, Mead & White building and restores many of its original features.

This ambitious undertaking included 42,000 SF of renovated interior space in the middle and high school wings, including a renovation of the school’s auditorium which still had scars from a fire 80 years prior. The project also added almost 8,000 SF of new space, including the project’s most visible and transformational feature: the iconic entrance that leads from the 19th Avenue end of the school directly to the main foyer. From there many new or expanded elements are introduced: an entry lobby and revamped accessible entrance to the historic Cheek Gym, a presence for the school’s parent-teacher organization (USNA), a redesigned school spirit store, a fully restored pool facility, and connections to Lower and Middle School. The renovation addresses the client’s long felt need for a unified entrance for students, families, and guests who usually arrive by car, not on foot as they did in 1925. The intentionally grand, indoor-outdoor entry plaza affords students a place to socialize and study.