The Episcopal Church of the USA chose a downtown Austin block as the site for a future Archives building as a means to demonstrate the Church’s on-going commitment to social justice and civic presence. The prominent location and high visibility of the site serve to provide all citizens with a space/place to gather, while giving the Church a building that is an icon of its connectedness to the community as a whole. Key to that vision was a project with a diversity of uses that would represent a microcosm of Austin itself.

The block is made up of several components, intricately pieced together to maximize the usability of the site. These components are: an Archives building, two office buildings, underground parking, ground floor retail and the Residential tower. A Capitol View corridor over most of the site, and surrounding sites, allows only a small corner could extend upwards beyond 5 floors. The project team recognized what would normally be a hindrance to development as perfect opportunity for multi-family, thus fulfilling the client’s principles. Our Client was very excited to be able to include housing and intends it to serve those typically underserved in the Austin Community.

Location, Austin, Texas 2019

Scope, Conceptual Design for Block Redevelopment, 67,000 s.f. Archives Building, 210,000 s.f. Office Space, 42,000 s.f. Retail & 317,000 s.f. of Residential 
Services, Site Analysis, Masterplanning, Programming

Client, Archives of the Episcopal Church
Team, Milton Hime, Robert Byrnes