In 1910, with the collegiate-gothic design of the Carnegie Library (now Austin Peay), Grant C. Miller (1870–1956) of Patton and Miller essentially established the architectural style of the campus as Collegiate Gothic. It was Miller who worked most closely with Ayres as a member of the firm of Miller, Fullenwider & Dowling. In 1925 President Morgan wrote to the University of Arkansas President J. C. Futrell that Miller, Fullenwider & Dowling “have been the architects of The University of Tennessee for many years.” The same year, Miller wrote to President Morgan that he was dissolving his Chicago partnership and forming a partnership with Barber and McMurry of Knoxville. The university followed Miller to Barber and McMurry for architectural services, and Collegiate Gothic continued to be the style of choice for the institution.
In October 1966 President Holt appointed an architectural advisory committee consisting of university architect Malcolm Rice; Clayton Dekle, Tennessee state architect; and Bill Lacey, dean of the UT School of Architecture. The committee was to assist with the building expansion program in Knoxville and across the state. Rice, interviewed by the Orange and White, indicated that one of the principal purposes would be to “make the change in architecture from Gothic on the Hill to the style of our time” on the new campus in the Urban Renewal Area. This change in architectural philosophy led to considerable eclecticism, and as the campus began to fill in the potential building sites, the lack of cohesion in style and building materials led to adoption—as part of the Master Plan update process in 2004—of design guidelines specifying building materials of brick and concrete and a return to elements of Academic Gothic architectural style.