Chattanooga/Hamilton County Building Resource Center

Architecture 472

Spring 1998

Professor Stroud Watson

Chattanooga, like many cities, is very concerned with how responsive the city and county government is to its constituents. For a number of years people have been talking about bringing duplicated city and county functions into one shared facility that would be more efficient for users of city services. The proposal that I explored was lovingly called the "One Stop Shop,"--but instead of milk and eggs, people would come to the facility looking for all city and county services relating to building.

I viewed the building as a two way communication tool. On one level, the public would communicate its needs to the city and county, and on another level, the duplicated functions of the county and city could internally communicate.

The proposed site for the building was an lot along historic Market Street in Chattanooga, just up from the famed Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The site presented important challenges to the design. The Market Street side of the lot is across the street from a historic commercial district, while the rear of the site is mostly industrial buildings. Parking for the site would occcur from the industrial side, while the main entrance should respect the Market Street side.