The Flying Squirrel Bar

Chattanooga, TN
2018 AIA TN Merit Award

The owner, Crash Pad Hospitality, asked us to design a bar/restaurant that would expand the cultural reach and renaissance of the Southside neighborhood. They wanted to provide a communal gathering space to bring more people to the neighborhood and to provide great food, beverage and service to locals and visitors to the Chattanooga, especially visitors staying at their hostel, The Crash Pad, located adjacent to, and sharing the same property as, The Flying Squirrel.

After having already established a relationship with outdoor enthusiasts through the hostel, the owner asked that the design embrace the outdoors through a comfortable patio and through an open bar that allows indoor bar patrons to experience the outdoors and outdoor bar patrons to be a part of the goings-on inside the space. The tone is equally amenable to a night out on the town or to a cold beer after an afternoon of rock climbing. The team worked closely with the craftsman at Haskel Sears Design and Construction in the build out of this great space.

The design employed careful mechanical engineering, shading and siting and extensive use of reclaimed wood in the interior design to make the project as sustainable as possible. Additionally, the owner, project team and City of Chattanooga partnered to complete a pilot stormwater project that incorporated pedestrian-friendly and innovative stormwater techniques. This element of the project received the Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award in 2014.

Learn more about The Flying Squirrel here.

*Photo Credit - Grant Dodson and Spectruss (Sam Silvey)