Small Office + Home Office

This undergraduate studio project concentrated on the planning and privacy challenges associated with working and living in the same building, within an urban environment. The proposal suggests the use of modular, interconnected residential/office configurations of varying size. The high-rise LIVING/OFFICE tower provides a minimum of 25 LIVE/WORK units offering residential space + office space ranging from 1,000 – 3,000 square feet per unit. Additionally, a large public retail component contributes to the new 2nd Street District retail corridor and pedestrian connections to existing urban and recreational features are strengthened.

The tower configuration supports my interest in allowing a seamless transition between work and home, where, during office hours, a fully-functioning office team could assemble and work a mere corridor away from the adjacent residential dwelling. After office hours, the living space would come to life with a 30-second commute and the office would be left behind entirely but always at an arm's length, if necessary. This configuration has merit for any business person not ready to invest in full-scale office property and also gives satellite office groups a place to meet professionally while providing flexible corporate accommodation in the adjacent residence.

The proposed design features a retail base which fills the entire city block site and addresses every corner of the pedestrian experience. Large shop front windows and a lake-view terrace café abound. The smaller inset footprint of the LIVING/OFFICE tower gracefully reaches toward the sky yielding excellent views of Austin below. The tower LIVING and OFFICE elevations project two very different qualities: the amiable ‘patchwork’ enclosure of the semi-private residential facades look south to Town Lake while the slightly austere and fully-glazed office facades look north to the business corridor and state capital.