acc building 3000 adaptive reuse

After 80 years of neglect, the masonry construction on this landmark is as good as new. I’m thrilled that ACC was willing to invest in its reinvention.

Soon after moving to Austin, l stumbled over this downtown alley (13 ½ Street) – I remained interested in it as an oasis-of-sorts in the city, with dramatic change in scale and temperature. I’m very fortunate that I got to add this roof terrace access to it.

To reclaim the low side of the site for ACC and the surrounding community, the addition has a roof terrace which provides human-presence, helping to rehabilitate the crime-ridden parking lot. The addition houses building services and cooling towers.

Aerial view of roof terrace

The 13½ Street alley access was landscaped and provided with contemporary safety features and lighting to reclaim this pathway for the students and city.

North facing classroom on the new floor level. The existing interior brick walls are painted yellow, with new sheetrock classroom walls painted white. A very effective classroom, with tall windows providing soft light.

Building organizational diagram shows the most unusual 5 story project I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on.

Student Commons at the new floor level. The original riveted steel roof trusses cleaned up wonderfully, and the high ceiling provides an opportunity for gradients of soft light, all from a four-foot square skylight.

Even some complex projects have a single drawing that organizes the whole.

ACC uses their stairs. l designed these with steel mesh verticals for light penetration, and also for better sight lines to improve student perceptions of safety.

Construction progress photo of steel columns for the new floor level. An example of the trade-offs presented by Adaptive Reuse projects: the weight of interior improvements could not exceed the calculated capacity of the existing foundation.