McHugh Construction, one of the Midwest’s largest commercial contractors with a concentration in high-end hospitality, announces it has completed the Inn and Spa at Southall, a 325-acre luxury farm resort in Franklin, Tennessee. Located about 30 minutes south of Nashville, the recently opened Southall includes the inn, spa and signature restaurant dedicated to sustainability.
The approximately 95,000-square-foot Inn and Spa at Southall features 62 guestrooms, an executive boardroom, 15,000-square-foot spa, all-day dining restaurant and bar and a 3,700-square-foot signature seed-to-fork restaurant, January, featuring items grown on-site. Many guestrooms include wood-burning fireplaces, exposed wood beams and large windows overlooking the natural landscape.
For sustainability and aesthetic reasons, McHugh used cross-laminated timber (CLT) and heavy timber to frame Southall’s four interconnected buildings. Developed in Europe in the 1990s, CLT is made from several layers of structural-grade lumber arranged crosswise and glued together. While relatively new in the U.S., this alternative framing material is more sustainable than traditional steel and concrete because it’s harvested from managed forests that can be regulated and replanted. Using sloped CLT for the lobby, McHugh was also able to eliminate the cross bracing and framing to create a large, open space at the main entrance.
When construction began, McHugh had just completed some notable Nashville projects, including FieldHouse Jones, a 93-room boutique hotel; The SoBro, a 32-story luxury apartment tower; West End Residential, a 20-story, 358-unit apartment tower near the Vanderbilt campus; and Kenect Nashville, a 20-story, 420-unit mixed-use development located on famous Music Row.
McHugh used an integrated project delivery method at Southall and was present from the beginning of the design phase to provide input from a building perspective.
In addition to CLT, another sustainable choice was made for the HVAC system, which is a water-source geothermal variant refrigerant flow (VRF) system. McHugh drilled 110 geothermal wells 400 feet deep under the parking lot and connected them to a geothermal loop within the building. The geothermal-sourced water stays between 50 and 90 degrees and allows each guest to precisely regulate a room’s temperature. It is also used to produce the hot water for the guestrooms, spa and kitchens.
Conceived seven years ago as a biodynamic working farm, focused on agricultural innovation and sustainable, responsible and productive use of the land, Southall includes orchards, greenhouses for hydroponic production and a seasonal farm stand. The working farm at Southall employs both advanced farming technologies and heritage farming techniques, from hydroponics and aquaculture to rotational grazing, permaculture and terracing, to create a farm of the future, with an old-world reverence. Southall also includes an event center and 16 standalone cottages. Outside of the sustainable working farm and luxury resort, 97% of the property will be maintained as green space.
