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PROJECT AMLI Residential Block 22 Mixed-Use Development, Austin
CLIENT AMLI Residential
ARCHITECT PageSoutherlandPage
DESIGN TEAM Lawrence W. Speck, FAIA; Robert E. Burke, PE; Daniel Brooks, AIA; Fernando Autrique, RA; Sylvan Schurwanz; Wendy Dunnam-Tita, AIA, IIDA
CONTRACTOR AMLI Construction
CONSULTANTS PageSoutherlandPage (civil and MEP); Jaster-Quintanilla, Austin (structural); Atlantis Aquatic Group (pool); Land Design Partners (landscape); Parking Planners (parking); Jim Whitten Roof Consultants, (roofing)
PHOTOGRAPHER Casey Dunn

Located in downtown Austin's fledgling 2nd Street District, the new 18-story AMLI II integrates 35,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, four and one-half levels of above-ground parking, an activity deck on the fifth level above the garage, and 231 rental apartments on 17 floors.

The building's massing reflects a new mixed-use model for Austin's booming urban core in which retail establishments, a residential tower with amenities, and on-site parking accommodate both residents and visitors. The program elements are rationally placed and contribute to an engaging pedestrian experience as well as a thoughtful contribution to the fabric of the inner city. Ground-floor retail is designed to occupy the 32-foot-deep, tree-lined 2nd Street promenade. The retail and office spaces on the primary east/west elevations wrap around the shorter north/south elevations where, at mid-block, parking entry and exit are located. The parking garage is clad in a lightweight steel and polycarbonate armature that screens cars as well as links the 3rd Street residential tower to the 2nd Street storefront retail.

The open and clean composition of the facade of an ordinary double-loaded corridor design demonstrates exceptional concern for sustainability as well as integrity of design. The rectangular tower is broken into four volumes articulated by massing and subtle color variations of its luminous, anodized aluminum-shingle skin. "The tower's lightweight aluminum rainscreen skin refl ects heat and arranges insulation, vapor barrier, and ventilation so as to optimize energy performance, durability, thermal mass, and indoor air quality," according to Lawrence W. Speck, FAIA, the project's lead designer.

The tower's interior integrates the structural concrete for several uses. At the exterior wall, the slab is thickened to serve as a beam from which to support the 10-foot-tall, fl oor-to-ceiling window and door assemblies that open to deep concrete balconies. The balconies serve two purposes—to both extend the inhabitable space of each apartment and to provide solar shading on the south facade.

There are five configurations of the one-bedroom/one-bath apartments and two layouts of the two-bedroom/two-bath units. The residential units either face north (where heat gain is not an issue) or south (where heat transmission is controlled by horizontal sun shades). The patio/decks, stacked sunrooms, and staggered window patterns suggest a personal residential experience in contrast to the scale of the project's generous urban gesture.

--This article is adapted from "Urban Aerie on 2nd Street" that appeared in the March/April 2008 edition. Wendy Price Todd is a writer living in Austin.