Elliott Germantown

The Mainland Companies approached MZA to lead the design team for the adaptive reuse of the Elliott School building into 26 residential condominiums with ground level landscaped amenity lawns and private and common rooftop amenity terraces.

Built in 1916, the Elliott School was originally designed by notable architectural firm Marr & Holman whose Nashville work included the main United States Post Office (now the Frist Museum) and the Tennessee State Supreme Court. The school closed in 1971. Though it was added to the National Historic Register in 1979, it sat vacant until 1995 when it was converted to offices.

Mainland and MZA made restoring the original character of the school their top priority, working closely with the neighborhood association, Nashville Historic Zoning Commission, and Tennessee Historical Commission to maintain the building's status on the National Historic Register. Each unit was designed with the original classroom module in mind and care was taken to minimize the visibility of the new roof addition from the street and compliment the original structure. In-filled walls and dropped ceilings were removed and original finishes like hard wood, glazed brick, and plaster restored wherever possible. Exterior masonry was cleaned, and windows replaced to match the original look of the building.

Most notably, the original two-story auditorium, in-filled for 20 years with low dropped ceilings and partitions that covered over half its volume, was reopened to house three two-story loft units designed to maximize the drama of the 13'-6" tall auditorium windows and nearly 30' tall ceilings. This area also received unexpected structural reinforcement and new roofing after a direct hit by the March 2020 tornado peeled the existing roof off the middle of the building.

The finished result of the Elliott Germantown Condominiums is a combination of thoughtful preservation of one of Germantown's defining buildings with a modern approach to design and detail that guarantees its use and appreciation for years to come.

2022 Metro Historic Preservation Award

Photos by Showcase Photographers.