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Lake|Flato Architects is the latest firm to achieve B Corp status

2023-07-13T17:18:00-04:00

Texas-based Lake|Flato has announced its recent attainment of B Corp certification in a move they say is geared at enhancing the firm’s already-strong social and environmental credentials.

As the first entity in the state to achieve the certification, Lake|Flato joins a vanguard of some 30 others nationwide that have obtained B Corp status following the addition this spring of New York mainstay SO – IL. The 39-year-old firm had already been operating under the International Living Future Institute’s “The Just Label” standards and recently began the important task of self-reporting benchmark data to the organization B Lab, resulting in a positive B Impact Assessment score of 104.9.

Heather Holdridge, the firm’s Director of Design Performance, said: “As the saying goes, ‘if you can measure it, you can improve it.’ B Corp certification requires rigorous documentation and validation of our firm’s environmental performance and equity, diversity, and inclusion practices. Lake|Flato now ha...

Inside ICON’s curving 3D printed home by Lake|Flato in Austin

2022-03-02T11:59:00-05:00

ICON has unveiled a completed 3D printed home in Austin, Texas designed by Lake|Flato. Named “House Zero,” the home adopts a “mid-century modernist ranch house aesthetic” while also exploring how 3D printing can enhance resilience and sustainability.

The project comprises of a main three-bedroom home spanning over 2000 square feet, and a one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit spanning 350 square feet. The walls of the home were constructed using “Lavacrete,” a 3D printed cement-based material, with combines with insulation and steel reinforcement to form the external envelope. The team believes that the thermal mass properties of Lavacrete will enhance energy efficiency by slowing heat transfer, increasing insulation, and providing a more airtight envelope.

Photo credit: Casey Dunn

The curved 3D printed walls also serve as a strong design feature throughout the home, with rounded corners creating soft, natural circulation routes through the home. “While the organic nature of the 3D-pri...