Austin’s W Hotel and Residences complex is a new centerpiece for the city, occupying a prime location in the skyline framing Austin City Hall and Lady Bird Lake. Andersson-Wise Architects, of Austin, designed the building to make the most of the city’s natural environment, capturing prevailing breezes and controlling the intense sunlight to create a protectedyet open experience.
Building materials: cement composite panels (Swiss Pearl), aluminum + glass curtain wall system, metal plate wall panels
LEED rating: SILVER
Sustainable features: urban site, orientation to sun and prevailing breezes, utilizes City of, Austin chilled water system, high recycled content materials, low VOC, materials, high-performance glazing.
Tags: Austin, Texas, U.S.A. Comments Off on W AUSTIN HOTEL + RESIDENCES with AUSTIN CITY LIMITS LIVE AT THE MOODY THEATER in Austin, Texas by Andersson-Wise Architects
The new Topfer Theatre at ZACH, the regional theater for Austin and Central Texas, was completed in the fall of 2012. Andersson-Wise Architects designed the building and its surrounding outdoor spaces to define a dramatic, iconic image for ZACH within the context of the city, as well as to create a performing arts campus that engages its strategic site on Lady Bird Lake. The theater’s stage fly loft, with its elegant, vertical proportion, is visible from downtown Austin, whether one is approaching from the Lamar Street Bridge by car, or from the Pfluger Bridge on foot.
In 1985, after 118 years of brewing along the San Antonio River, Pearl Brewery closed its doors. In 2002 planning work for the redevelopment of Pearl Brewery into a vibrant mixed-use district began. From the beginning, repurposing the existing inventory of historic building stock (450,000 square feet) was central to the transformation of the 26-acre brownfield site.
Fleck Hall, a functional, flat-topped, “concrete shoebox” efficiently built in 1958 to serve as St. Edwards University’s science building, was slated for demolition when the new John Brooks Williams Natural Science Center opened in fall 2006. But architect Arthur Andersson convinced administrators that Fleck Hall was worth saving. The main selling point: Fleck’s lasting, adaptable structure, a defined and consistent concrete grid.
Affordable, elegant, eco-friendly homes delivered internationally—any size, any style, anywhere in the world.
Lack of affordable housing is a serious problem around the world, and it’s been Adia’s focus for almost a decade now. When our “$12,000 Green Dream Home” (MCDhouse) made international news in 2009, floods of emails came in from across the globe. It seemed to give people hope. It made young people who can barely afford to rent leap at the thought of owning their own home. It made families with children dream of healthy, all natural housing. It delighted the elderly looking for small elegant homes to down-size into in retirement. It perked political interest on multiple continents. An ultra-affordable, eco-friendly house seemed to strike a chord in everyone.
Lukas is an architectural entrepreneur who was thrust into the professional world prematurely when as a young college student he received a $10+ million investment offer for an invention, and soon after gained international recognition for his “$12,000 Green Dream Home.”
Story: How a 22-year-old architecture student turned scraps into a sustainable paradise for a family in need.
The MCDhouse was built in cooperation with the Sustainable Builders’ Guild of Huntsville (Texas) as part of a local initiative to increase earth consciousness while providing homes for low-income families. Built to the minimum square footage allowed by law (for three residents), the house challenges the “hermetically-sealed box” mentality and sets out to prove that large enclosed homes are not necessary for comfort, functionality, and dignity.
Final Cost: $12,000, which equals $24.79/s.f. (legal s.f.), or $9.88/s.f. (total usable s.f.)
Applicable Codes: IRC 2003 (International Residential Code); ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act); TMCS (Texas Minimum Construction Standards); SBGH (Sustainable Builders’ Guild of Huntsville, based on localized LEED Standards)
Commissioned by the Dallas Parks Department, this new shade structure bridges the gap between two groups of trees at a natural gathering place in the park. The composition of steel components abstract and mimic the surrounding trees to produce similar dappled shade.
The Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail is a linear park of scenic trails and landscaping that follows the banks of the Colorado River in downtown Austin. Very popular among runners and bike riders, the park provides residents and visitors with a rural escape in an urban setting. The Restroom—the first public restroom built in the park in over 30 years—was built by the Town Lake Trail Foundation, a community-based non-profit organization, in partnership with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Capturing the energy of Formula 1 racing in its iconic form, the 251 foot tall Observation Tower provides a dramatic focal point for the Circuit of the Americas and a new landmark for central Texas. Conceived as a visual finale to the central Grand Plaza, the Tower also serves as a memorable backdrop to the Austin360 Amphitheater concert venue at its base. The structure’s unique design anchors visitors’ experience of the motorsports and entertainment complex and fosters a sense of place that is essential to the new circuit’s identity.
Project: Observation Tower Circuit of the Americas
Location: Austin, Texas, U.S.A
Photography: Paul Finkel, Piston Design, Circuit of the Americas, Miró Rivera Architect, Michael Hsu, Miró Rivera Archit Circuit of the Americas Ted Parker, Jr. Circuit of the Americas, Steve Colburn, Miró Rivera Architects, Circuit of the Americas
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