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Water's Edge Residence
Water's Edge Residence
Austin, TX, United States
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Other Projects by A Parallel Architecture
Water's Edge Residence
Austin, TX, United States
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2021
SIZE
5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft
BUDGET
Undisclosed
Lake Austin is home to some of the most expensive properties and residential builds in Texas. The formula for most recent development along the lake prioritizes quantity over quality, with houses focused on maximizing square footage, creating grand façades, and displaying showy finishes. With half of the unit cost budget of the most recent neighbors, our clients gave us the opportunity to approach this project with a different mind-set, shifting the focus to value, durability, and experience.
The property had an existing dilapidated 1950s-era home with severe mold damage. The Owner’s brief was to remove the existing structure and create a new spacious home for their growing family and live-in parents. The home was to celebrate connectivity to the lake and have flexible public spaces that could accommodate large events for charitable arts foundations.
The genesis of this design lay in establishing logic and order on the flat site through architectural definition of use-patterns that provide sanctuary and scale for its inhabitants. The result is a regularized cartesian framework with porous and flexible infill walls. These walls can transform hourly and seasonally as needed to take advantage of the lakeside setting and respond to environmental factors. Deep-covered patios, decks, and a balcony promenade further engage this framework and provide sheltered exterior circulation, while also creating a central enclave private from the neighbors.
The programmatic hierarchy in the home is reflected in its form and plan. A tripartite diagram creates distinct zones for private, public, and service programs, which in turn is manifested by distinct architectural volumes that create interstitial high-traffic crossover zones—an entry vestibule, a kitchen, and an outdoor living space. Sectionally, vertical connections create unique relationships and afford unexpected views and connections between otherwise disparate programs. On the ground plane, a wandering series of rhombus armatures serve as organic circulation routes on the property and stand as a foil to the hardline geometry of the house. This geometric and textural juxtaposition emphasizes the distinction between determination and discretion at key thresholds.
Practical implementation of indoor/outdoor living in the hot, humid climate of central Texas is a difficult task and one that is usually ignored or ameliorated with band-aid additive solutions. So often, expansive multi slide doors go unopened as insects and waves of heat would otherwise flood the hermetically conditioned living spaces. From day one of design on this project, creating a functional and usable indoor/outdoor experience on this lakeside property was at the forefront. This includes layering active and passive screening, conditioning, and solar shading strategies across disciplines and integrating them seamlessly into the architecture. An extensive integrated and concealed automated screen system filters hot western sun, enables views, and facilities cross ventilation through an isolated mechanical zone engineered for replacement air in large gatherings. Connections to interior courtyards create unique microclimates that can provide privacy, distinct environs, and general well-being—a shady respite under a massive bald cypress or a traditional meditation garden with a water feature that masks the sounds of distant motorboats. These types of considerations are not isolated amenities in the project; they are boundless within the context of the project and innate to the use of the building.
An environmental resource inventory study was performed on the site, and extensive coordination with the city’s environmental review department helped ensure the project encourages habitat formation for wildlife and protected species. Working with a landscape consultant, we implemented a planting plan designed to restore native vegetation to the lake's shoreline while affording safe access to boats. Additional shoreline improvements included permanently decommissioning boat slips and transforming them into marine habitats for native aquatic species by use of riprap for wake reduction. All rainwater on site is collected, filtered, and returned to the lake through an underground plumbing system. In turn, the house uses a pump and filtration system to pull from the lake. This very literal water-cycle is a constant reminder of the importance of water quality and respect for the lake.
This project is seen as a harbinger of a new attitude concerning what it means to invest in Architecture on high visibility “status” properties in the region. Contrary to the modus operandi, this project is about building smaller than allowed by regulatory agencies and quietly revealing value through restraint, detail, and craft. This is not an alpha house by stature or design. It is a slow reveal. It is understated. It is the beloved album that yields newfound delight upon every listen. This has not gone unnoticed by its Owners or by those who visit.
The property had an existing dilapidated 1950s-era home with severe mold damage. The Owner’s brief was to remove the existing structure and create a new spacious home for their growing family and live-in parents. The home was to celebrate connectivity to the lake and have flexible public spaces that could accommodate large events for charitable arts foundations.
The genesis of this design lay in establishing logic and order on the flat site through architectural definition of use-patterns that provide sanctuary and scale for its inhabitants. The result is a regularized cartesian framework with porous and flexible infill walls. These walls can transform hourly and seasonally as needed to take advantage of the lakeside setting and respond to environmental factors. Deep-covered patios, decks, and a balcony promenade further engage this framework and provide sheltered exterior circulation, while also creating a central enclave private from the neighbors.
The programmatic hierarchy in the home is reflected in its form and plan. A tripartite diagram creates distinct zones for private, public, and service programs, which in turn is manifested by distinct architectural volumes that create interstitial high-traffic crossover zones—an entry vestibule, a kitchen, and an outdoor living space. Sectionally, vertical connections create unique relationships and afford unexpected views and connections between otherwise disparate programs. On the ground plane, a wandering series of rhombus armatures serve as organic circulation routes on the property and stand as a foil to the hardline geometry of the house. This geometric and textural juxtaposition emphasizes the distinction between determination and discretion at key thresholds.
Practical implementation of indoor/outdoor living in the hot, humid climate of central Texas is a difficult task and one that is usually ignored or ameliorated with band-aid additive solutions. So often, expansive multi slide doors go unopened as insects and waves of heat would otherwise flood the hermetically conditioned living spaces. From day one of design on this project, creating a functional and usable indoor/outdoor experience on this lakeside property was at the forefront. This includes layering active and passive screening, conditioning, and solar shading strategies across disciplines and integrating them seamlessly into the architecture. An extensive integrated and concealed automated screen system filters hot western sun, enables views, and facilities cross ventilation through an isolated mechanical zone engineered for replacement air in large gatherings. Connections to interior courtyards create unique microclimates that can provide privacy, distinct environs, and general well-being—a shady respite under a massive bald cypress or a traditional meditation garden with a water feature that masks the sounds of distant motorboats. These types of considerations are not isolated amenities in the project; they are boundless within the context of the project and innate to the use of the building.
An environmental resource inventory study was performed on the site, and extensive coordination with the city’s environmental review department helped ensure the project encourages habitat formation for wildlife and protected species. Working with a landscape consultant, we implemented a planting plan designed to restore native vegetation to the lake's shoreline while affording safe access to boats. Additional shoreline improvements included permanently decommissioning boat slips and transforming them into marine habitats for native aquatic species by use of riprap for wake reduction. All rainwater on site is collected, filtered, and returned to the lake through an underground plumbing system. In turn, the house uses a pump and filtration system to pull from the lake. This very literal water-cycle is a constant reminder of the importance of water quality and respect for the lake.
This project is seen as a harbinger of a new attitude concerning what it means to invest in Architecture on high visibility “status” properties in the region. Contrary to the modus operandi, this project is about building smaller than allowed by regulatory agencies and quietly revealing value through restraint, detail, and craft. This is not an alpha house by stature or design. It is a slow reveal. It is understated. It is the beloved album that yields newfound delight upon every listen. This has not gone unnoticed by its Owners or by those who visit.
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