The City of Austin has been expanding westward and repurposing industrial sites of the city grid for civic, business and residential programs. As a result, the Seaholm Electrical Substation site, once at the edge of the city of Austin, was being surrounded by new civic interventions including the new Public library, the Shoal Creek park, an urban bikeway, several mixed-use development sites, and the renovated historic Seaholm Power Plant.
Architecture Office, an architecture firm based outside of Austin, Texas, has designed the flagship work environment for ShareCuse, a new coworking space located within the historic 1928 Syracuse Building in the city’s downtown district. Drawing from the edifice’s rich 90-year history as an office building, and the firm’s own research into a range of workspace typologies, the design for ShareCuse explores, expands, and reinvigorates the notion of a cubicle.
ShareCuse accommodates 25 members, and is set within a 3,200-square-foot room on the second floor of an existing concrete and steel building. Architecture Office’s design for the space is defined by an arrangement of freestanding black cubicles and a kitchen island within the interior of the space, that define a series of interstitial lounge spaces throughout the open office. Ringing the open workspace are seven private offices, a conference room and a telephone booth.
Rally has revitalized the West Seattle spine of California Avenue. Occupying the former site of a stand-alone restaurant and parking lot, the location was one of many struggling to strike a balance between the commercial promise of this avenue and the single-family neighborhoods beyond. Through conscientious material choice and careful composition, Rally communicates village character and provides the surrounding area with necessary cohesion.
Stencil’s form and materiality was conceived as a response to its rich context. The corner of 24th and Union is bustling, so Stencil’s cubic form and steel cladding form a strong presence anchoring the corner and presenting a public face in the urban context to the north and west. The rusted steel evokes a sense of warmth, age, and industry—and a little bit of funk, emphasizing the history and character of the Central District by not appearing too new, cold, or gentrified.
Blitz’s project includes the complete renovation of two office buildings on the 150,000-square-foot Marina Landing campus in Brisbane, CA, located just seven miles south of San Francisco. The goal of the building repositioning was to transform the location into a sought-after creative office campus. Both buildings, which had remained vacant for more than four years prior to the renovation, underwent complete exterior and interior repositioning. Blitz created a cohesive campus design that visually unifies the two buildings and fosters an instantly recognizable identity. The design embraces the surrounding mountains and marina.
Seattle Humane’s mission of serving pets in need of shelter and respite was constrained by its small, 1960s-era facility. The organization sought to build a new animal shelter that would increase the number of pets it served while providing a base of operations for their community outreach and educational programs. At 57,000 SF, their new facility does just that, providing shelter for 165 cats and 170 dogs, a 35% increase in capacity. This allows Seattle Humane to take in more pets from high-kill shelters and provides an opportunity to place more pets with adoptive families.
To limit disruptions to operations and programming of this vital community nonprofit, the new building was constructed adjacent to the existing facility on the same site, allowing the shelter to remain open throughout construction.
Located at a street corner in the East Village of New York, Spritea is conceived as a freshly playful environment with a sense of fusion between the Eastern and Western tea culture. The space is organized based on an open layout, with a series of custom-made curvilinear banquette groups creating dynamic flow and lounge-like experience. The centrally located and carefully detailed bar island anchors the space while being highlighted by the elongated cylindrical ceiling geometry above. Together they showcase the elegant process of teamaking to the guests. The selection of materials renders a gentle and fresh ambience, with light tone site cast terrazzo floor and millworks. Being part of a historically preserved landmark building, the renovated storefront preserves the original structure and details of the building while blends the modern space to the neighborhood. The compact restroom reinforces the curvilinear geometries of the main space, featuring a double dome ceiling finished with light oak veneers. The curation of contemporary artworks and neon lights draws attention as one enjoys the unique tea experience.
This facility is programmed for ultimate flexibility, and has already housed multiple faculty lectures, theatrical performances, talks by politicians, and many other activities. An art gallery welcomes visitors just off the entrance, and adjacent to offices. A flexible classroom allows for computer training, interactive classrooms, and video gaming events to happen. The theater can house full production, and allow news agencies to tie into their broadcast systems for live streaming of events, and HarvardX recordings and transmission. An Art Studio, a Science Lab, and six mentoring rooms provide opportunities for young Boston students to be part of the growing STEAM programs set up by Harvard students focused on education. In all, the place is a mecca for learning, studying, and culture.
This headquarters for a steam shower manufacturing company embraces the industrial nature of the firm’s business as well as the building itself, which MrSteam has occupied since the 1960s. Located in the commercial manufacturing district of Long Island City, the building contains MrSteam’s offices and manufacturing facilities. A minimal, bright redesign of the interior space highlights the raw, historic character of the hardworking building. The new design links past to present, revealing the original structural elements of the 1931 building with new insertions that meet the needs of MrSteam’s growing professional sales and operations staff.
This renovation and addition project transforms a typical suburban colonial house into a dwelling that is open, naturally day lit, and engaged with the landscape, garden, and sky. Located on a steep forested corner lot, reforming the landscape was a critical component of the project to anchor the project into the hill side and to create a new terraced garden. The existing garage was demolished and the vernacular form was extended to the garden to create a new two story transparent entrance and living area with expansive views to the garden and sky.
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