Middleton, Tennessee, USA

Led by David Dowell of El Dorado, along with landscape architects W.M. Whitaker & Associates, and Nelson Byrd Woltz, the Lone Oaks Farm Hunter Education Station for the University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture in Middleton is a complex site that will accommodate a wide variety of programming, bringing the ethos and goals outlined in a previous master plan by this same design team into reality.

The Lone Oaks Farm Hunter Education Station project has recently been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Lone Oaks Farm includes 1,200 acres of scenic pastures, large bodies of water, and protected woodlands.

After a recent acquisition by the University of Tennessee, the farm was envisioned in the master plan as a center of hospitality, agriculture, and youth education for West Tennessee.

As directed in the master plan, the Hunters’ Education Center takes cues from existing agrarian structures on the property, while adopting updated performance standards to provide a contemporary, durable facility.

The building consists of approximately 6,800 square feet of meeting rooms, a classroom, a catering kitchen, and a pro shop sited to leverage the ecology and beauty of this portion of the farm.

The sporting games include trap, skeet, and a clay course integrated into the landscape.

The result is a high-end experience for area youth, 4-H campers, amateur, and competitive shooters.

Project: Lone Oaks Farm Hunter Education Station
Architects: El Dorado
Lead Architect: David Dowell
Design Team: Sean Slattery, Brian Michener, Kyle Leiker, and Brock Traffas
Landscape Architects: W.M. Whitaker & Associates (WMWA) Landscape Architect and Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW)
General Contractor: MSB Construction
Client: University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
Photographers: Mike Sinclair