Archinect - News

10 architectural projects in Austin by Austin architects we liked this month

2019-12-20T19:03:00-05:00

As part of Archinect's month-long Spotlight on Austin, we're mixing up the typical Friday compilation of ten top projects on various Firm and People profiles shared to our Pinterest boards and, instead, present you ten of our favorite Austin projects designed by practices based in Austin.

Looking for architectural jobs in the region? Here are some firms that are currently hiring in the city, and even more here in other Texas cities.

↑ Greater Goods by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture (the firm was also featured in Archinect's popular Studio Snapshots series); Photo: Chase Daniel

↑ SXSW Center Lobby Activation by Runa Workshop; Photo: Dror Baldinger, FAIA

↑ Hewn House by MF Architecture; Photo: Charles Davis Smith, FAIA

↑ Road Runner Residence by North Arrow Studio (the firm was also featured in Archinect's popular Studio Snapshots series); Photo: Chase Daniel

↑ Tetra House by Bercy Chen Studio

↑ Eberly by Clayton & Little; Interior Design: Mickie Spencer; Photo: Merrick Ales & Chl...

A look at Austin's new crop of downtown towers

2019-12-16T18:16:00-05:00

There’s no question Austin is a boomtown. A record-breaking 8.1 million square feet of office buildings is under construction in the capital city, according to CoStar Group Inc., as developers and investors try to capitalize on rising prices and continued demand for space. Austin ranks No. 2 in the country for office construction, behind Nashville — although the Texas capital has the momentum to overtake the Tennessee capital in the coming months.

The list of new Downtown Austin towers — under construction or proposed — contains the Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects-designed Block 185 for Google, the 36-story Indeed Tower, the Quincy by Ziegler Cooper Architects, the 66-story 6 x Guadelupe as well as a new University of Texas at Austin high-rise with Gensler as architect, and a 117-unit condo tower designed by Rhode Partners among many others.

Already under construction, Block 185 tower is entirely leased by Google. Image courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects/STG Design/Trammell Crow Company.

If Austin's stock of Postmodernist skyscrapers is your preferred flavor (or not at all), read our recent piece Does a critique of Austin's 1980s skyline hold up?.

Architects open up a mid-century building in Austin through restorative adaptive-reuse

2019-12-12T14:32:00-05:00

Austin-based Mark Odom Studio has completed a complete renovation on an iconic Austin office building located at 2001 North Lamar Blvd. The single-story 3,000-square-foot building was built back in 1960 by architects Pendley & Day. With the renovation, Mark Odom Studio set out to restore the structure to its 1960s aesthetic. The archetypal structure was purchased by Meredith and Tyler Spears, owners of the insurance company BKCW. The pair felt the building reflected their company culture and attitude and identified strongly with the iconic mid-century appeal of the architecture.

In addition to the primary restoration, the architects saw the project as an adaptive-reuse endeavor, removing the internal subdivisions that were added to the space throughout the years while opening up the interiors to reflect and build upon the building’s stylish heritage. The building’s expansive glazed walls, for example, are able to take advantage of the newly opened plan, filling the space with natura...

Austin is calling! Don't miss these architectural job opportunities currently featured on Archinect Jobs

2019-12-12T10:00:00-05:00

A city teeming with an eclectic mix of architectural styles and cultural roots, in recent years Austin has become a hotspot for architects to showcase work that activates public spaces through formally dynamic and materially rich designs. Tying in with Archinect's Spotlight on Austin, we've selected seven Austin-based firms that are currently hiring.

Image courtesy of New Waterloo

New Waterloo seeks a Designer
New Waterloo is a hospitality management and development company based in Austin, Texas. Reporting to the Director of Design, the Designer will be accountable for the creative vision of impactful design initiatives from concept through logistics and install. The designer will be trusted to make key design decisions, under the overall creative direction of the Director of Design. A successful designer will fearlessly push boundaries, creating trends instead of following them. They will be innovative, scrappy, and have grit, while also exercising organizational abilities to ensure...

Does a critique of Austin's 1980s skyline hold up?

2019-12-06T12:56:00-05:00

Was Postmodernism ever popular? In 1986, at the height of the Po-Mo era, Newsweek's art and architecture critic Douglas Davis wrote a scathing review of Austin's newly built-up skyline, pinpointing his "disgust" towards the “riot of wretched excess” symbolized by the new Postmodern style buildings that filled the downtown area during that time. James Rambin of Towers provides us with a reminder of Davis' perspective, specifically regarding the One American Center, a tower designed by architects Morris-Aubry (the company merged with Dallas-based Huitt-Zollar in 2012) that is now known as 600 Congress.

Rambin shares an excerpt from Davis's 1986 critic: "By common consent, the old glass boxes were boring. But they were at least reticent. Their successors, in contrast, are often aggressively ugly, as unforgettable as bad dreams.”

One American Center now rebranded as 600 Congress. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Nearly 33 years later, however, downtown Austin and the buildings along ...

Introducing Archinect's Spotlight on Austin

2019-12-04T18:21:00-05:00

For the month of December, Archinect is shining a Spotlight on Austin, Texas.

Aside from being the Texas state capital, Austin is a major node in the thriving Texas Triangle mega-region, the urban agglomeration that includes Houston, Dallas-Forth Worth, and San Antonio.

The region is home to nearly 18 million people, produces upwards of $1.2 trillion in economic output, and contains a majority of the state's 8,560 architecture and 785,444 construction jobs, sectors that are both projected to continue growing over the next decade.

Towers like Pelli Clarke Pelli's Block 185 tower are reshaping Austin's skyline. Image courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects / STG Design / Trammell Crow Company.

Home to University of Texas at Austin and its 500-student program—its undergraduate division is currently ranked 9th in the country by Design Intelligence—Austin itself is also a locus for some of the state's most successful and inventive architecture offices, professional and academic, alike...

Apple begins construction on $1 billion campus in Austin

2019-11-25T14:50:00-05:00

According to a recent press release, Apple has broken ground on its new $1 billion, 3-million-square-foot campus. The campus will initially house 5,000 employees, with the capacity to grow to 15,000, and is expected to open in 2022.

Apple's growth in Austin is part of the company's nation wide expansion to increase its investment in manufacturing, engineering, and other jobs across the country. Apple is on track to contribute $350 billion to the US economy between 2018 and 2023, and during that time will hire an additional 20,000 employees, the company reports.

Apple has also partnered with Austin-based Bartlett Tree Experts in an effort to preserve the diversity of native trees on the 133-acre property. According to the organization, over 60 percent of the campus will consist of landscaping, which will include a "50-acre nature and wildlife preserve that will be open to the public."

According to reports, it is assumed that Studio8 Architects will be handling the design of the new c...

Pelli Clarke Pelli, Gensler projects reshape Austin's skyline

2019-09-29T15:00:00-04:00

We’ve got downtown Austin condos, apartments, offices, and hotels rising all around us in shiny new tower form these days, to the point where it’s kinda hard to keep the projects around the city straight even if you’re paying attention.

Forthcoming projects include a 35-story office building designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli for developers Trammell Crow Company that will serve as a regional headquarters for Google, as well as Gensler's 6 X Guadalupe tower, a 66-story, 848-foot residential and office tower that would become the city's tallest structure when completed.

Austin says yes to 135,000 new housing units

2019-06-18T13:42:00-04:00

Austin is planning to grow significantly over the next few years. 60,000 new units are planned for the city, to be complete in the next few years, according to KVUE.

This month, the Austin City Council voted to support a new housing plan for the city that could bring up to 135,000 new residences to the Texas capital. According to the plan, up to 60,000 of those new homes will be administered as affordable housing units.

The new plan is focused on bringing housing costs down in the city, where experts have been sounding alarms for years over rampant income segregation.

According to the Austin Chronicle, the city's population has more than doubled since 1990, with a large percentage of the new arrivals enjoying a high degree of wealth. As a result, many low- and moderate-income Austinites have become rent-burdened. The problem matches that of many other American cities: Despite receiving an influx of new residents in recent years, housing production has lagged behind growth rates, ...

Affordable 3D-printed housing model debuts at SXSW

2018-03-12T18:56:00-04:00

ICON has developed a method for printing a single-story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12 to 24 hours, a fraction of the time it takes for new construction. If all goes according to plan, a community made up of about 100 homes will be constructed for residents in El Salvador next year. The company has partnered with New Story, a nonprofit that is vested in international housing solutions.

Today at SXSW, The first model is scheduled to be unveiled by Austin-based startup ICON. The company uses the Vulcan 3D printer in order to generate an entire home for $10,000 with plans to bring costs down to $4,000 per house. Using concrete rather than plastic, the model features a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and a curved porch.

Detail of concrete layers on 3D printed house by ICON, in Austin, TX. Image: Icon.

Once testing is complete on their model, the Vulcan printer will be moved to El Salvador to begin construction. ICON also intends to build homes in the US.

Rendering of 3D-printing houses using the Vulcan 3D printer. Image: ICON.

Ellsworth Kelly’s "Austin," the artist’s final work and only building

2018-02-10T13:47:00-05:00

... not just a summation of his work’s themes but his masterpiece, the grandest exploration of pure color and form in a seven-decade career spent testing the boundaries of both. It is also the kind of ambitious fantasy that artists rarely get to execute...

M.H. Miller writes about Ellsworth Kelly’s "Austin," the artist’s final work and only building, which opens this month at the University of Texas’s Blanton Museum of Art.