Fabl Design plans additions, remodels, ADUs, and custom homes for homeowners across Knoxville and Knox County. We work in the city's Recode zoning districts every day, so we know what your lot will carry before design gets expensive.
Every service we offer, delivered locally — with drawings your builder and your permit reviewer will both understand.
From first sketch to construction-ready plans, we shape spaces around how you actually live — additions, remodels, ADUs, and new custom homes.
Site planning, hardscape, and planting design that connects your home to its yard — patios, entries, and outdoor living that feel like part of the architecture.
Photoreal interior and exterior renderings so you can walk your project, make decisions with confidence, and align every stakeholder.
Measured, verified documentation of your existing home — the foundation any thoughtful remodel or addition should start from.
We prepare, package, and shepherd your submittals through the local review process — so your project keeps moving.
A curated network of vetted builders we've worked with — matched to your scope, budget, and timeline.
Before design begins, confirm the district your lot sits in. The Knoxville zoning map lets you search by street address or parcel number and shows the base district plus any overlays that affect what you can build.
Zoning maps are for general research only. Verify districts, overlays, and permitted uses with the Knoxville planning department before making decisions — or send us your address and we'll confirm it for you.
The district your lot sits in sets your setbacks, height, and how much of the site you can cover. Here's a quick reference we use during schematic design in Knoxville.
Knoxville's oldest, most uniform large-lot neighborhoods. Intended to keep new construction and additions compatible with an intricate, established development pattern.
Traditional low-density single-family neighborhoods on larger lots with generous setbacks. Two-family dwellings only by special use approval.
Low-density single-family development on smaller lots with tighter setbacks — the most common infill district in Knoxville's older streetcar suburbs.
Medium-density neighborhoods of single-family, single-family attached, and two-family homes. Townhouses may be allowed by special use approval.
Mixed medium-density residential — single-family, attached, two-family, townhouse, plus low-rise multi-family and pocket neighborhoods by review.
Medium-density mixed housing that often serves as a transition between single-family blocks and commercial corridors.
Knoxville's highest-density residential districts. RN-6 still permits houses and townhouses; RN-7 is aimed at townhouse and multi-family development.
Any residential lot not served by sanitary sewer must be at least 20,000 sq ft regardless of district.
Design-review overlay covering districts such as Old North Knoxville, Fourth & Gill, and Edgewood-Park City, administered by the Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission.
A lighter-touch design overlay that protects the scale and form of a neighborhood without regulating every material detail.
Applies to steep slopes and ridgetops across Knoxville, limiting how much of a hillside lot can be disturbed.
Calibrates new housing in established neighborhoods so infill construction matches the surrounding development pattern.
Regulates construction in mapped flood hazard areas along the Tennessee River and its tributaries.
Knoxville's standards for a second, smaller dwelling on a residential lot — attached or detached.
These figures are general guidance for early planning — final requirements depend on your parcel, overlays, and any prior variances. Verify with the Knoxville codes department or the official zoning ordinance. We confirm them for your address before design begins.
This project transforms an existing home through a comprehensive renovation and interior reconfiguration. The redesigned layout improves circulation and creates more functional connections between living spaces, while a new screen porch extends the living area toward the backyard. An expanded side entrance, updated exterior materials, and varied roof forms give the home a more contemporary character. Inside, a spacious kitchen with a vaulted ceiling and skylights, a reconfigured primary suite, and an additional upstairs bedroom make better use of the home's existing space. The result is a brighter, more functional home with a cohesive modern design.
A terraced pool house addition designed to integrate with the existing residence and respond sensitively to the site’s sloped topography. The project combines architecture, landscape, and outdoor living through a cohesive design approach centered around the pool and backyard experience.
This project expands the upper level of an existing single-family home to better accommodate the client's growing space needs. By adding a second story above an existing rear volume, we created a larger primary bedroom, closet, and bathroom while repurposing the original attic as a home office and playroom. The addition was carefully designed to match the home's existing roof form and architectural character, creating functional new living spaces that feel fully integrated with the original house.
Knoxville replaced its old zoning ordinance with the Recode code (Appendix B) in 2020, and Knoxville-Knox County Planning administers it alongside the City's Plans Review and Inspections office. Blockface-average front setbacks, impervious surface caps, and the H-1 historic and hillside overlays drive most residential design decisions here — we confirm all of them before we start drawing.
Nearby cities and area guides that pair well with the Knoxville page.
Also in East Tennessee — zoning, setbacks, and permitting for Chattanooga homeowners.
Every city we serve across East Tennessee, plus how permitting differs between them.
Statewide overview of our Tennessee services, regions, and zoning maps.
8 Indiana city pages with local zoning detail.
Tell us about your space and what you're hoping to do. We'll write back within one business day.