Title: West Tennessee Solar Farm
Location of Proejct: Brownsville, TN
Project Completion Date: 2017
Firm Name: ANF Architects

Short Description: A Visitor Center, inspired by its extraordinary site in the middle of a solar farm adjacent to an Interstate highway, that displays, educates, demonstrates, and promotes renewable energy and sustainable design.

Architect's Statement: In 2012, the 5-megawatt solar farm opened. 21,434 solar panels were arranged around a 5-acre open meadow intended as the site for a visitor facility designed to educate the public about renewable energy in Tennessee.

The Visitor Center, which opened in 2018, houses four interrelated functions: an 'Information Center' featuring an owner-furnished renewable energy exhibit; a 'Welcome Center' with tourism displays, restrooms and staff spaces; a 'Vending' structure, and an open-air 'Picnic Terrace'. In addition to its educational mission, the building demonstrates the benefits of sustainable decisions.

The project exceeds the State of Tennessee Sustainable Design Guidelines for Land Management, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Material Use and Indoor Environmental Quality. Electricity from the solar panels, fed through the local grid, powers the visitor facility.

The radial site plan, including the Visitor Center building, a storage building, small picnic shelters and pads, and radial walks, responds to the geometry of the solar farm. The westbound access drive with its curving road and parking, has been completed; the eastbound drive with its highway overpass is the next Phase of the project.

Informed by the futuristic look of the solar panel array, the design is sleek and metallic, presenting a low angular profile. The metal walls fold into a sculptured hip roof, visible from the 70-mile-an-hour Interstate. The roof orients N-S improving passive solar performance. Metal, glass, wood, architectural stone and rubber, all sustainable materials, define the project's architectural character.

Panoramic vistas visually link the building with the surrounding solar farm and at night, brightly lit, the Visitor Center becomes a welcoming beacon for passing travelers.