To the northwest of Downtown Nashville and the Tennessee State Capitol sits Germantown, a formerly working class enclave with a large stock of historic masonry architecture. Though the neighborhood is situated along the Cumberland River, visitors might hardly notice, as a freight line and series of industrial buildings severed Germantown’s residential districts from the waterfront long ago.
A new multi-phase development led by S9 Architecture seeks to address this disconnect through the adaptive reuse of a riverside slaughterhouse. Named Neuhoff District after the defunct meatpacking company that once occupied the building, the project embraces the ruinous remains of the abattoir, leaving its decaying masonry walls and concrete skeleton exposed through selective demolition. The three new buildings on the site match this industrial vernacular with brick and metal siding, together forming a mixed-use community that seeks to bring workers closer to Nashville’s city center.
