The recently opened Hotel Magdalena in Austin, Texas is the first mass timber boutique hotel in North America and was designed by Lake|Flato. In today's post I share a few photos and a link to a recent Dezeen article about this culturally rich and sustainably minded new hospitality project.
One thing I love about the projects I see coming out of our office is how much architectural character they have, which -- to me -- is meaningful forms and integration with the environment. Not only that, but also understanding the depth of the design in terms of building performance, which is not always evident on the surface due to the careful integration of aesthetics and the project's sustainability goals. For example, Hotel Magdalena guests may not know about the low embodied carbon construction footprint due to the mass timber structure or that rainwater is being collected in underground cisterns.
This thoughtful integration of performance and aesthetics is not always the norm in the world of architecture. I like what Lane Hosey said in his book The Shape of Green:
"Rising interest in green brings more ingenuity from designers, and many recent examples have shown that sustainability can be attractive. But in much of this work, decisions about the shape and appearance are driven by a different standard -- namely, the designer's personal preferences -- than are decisions about technique. Some examples ignore aesthetics, and some apply it superficially. Neither is enough." pg. 28
Here is a great post, on our company blog THE DOGRUN, by Lake|Flato associate and project architect Sophia Razzaque on this project: A LOOK INSIDE HOTEL MAGDALENA, THE FIRST MASS TIMBER BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN NORTH AMERICA. Lots of cool photos, even during construction, in her post.
A quote from Sophia's post:
"We worked closely with StructureCraft, who was the structural engineer for the timber superstructure. The building structure and materials needed to be considered as an integral component of the larger sustainability goals of reducing energy demand, conserving water, and lowering the carbon footprint for the project. By using wood as the primary structural material in lieu of concrete or steel, the overall embodied energy for construction was greatly reduced."
Project description:
This new boutique hotel and residences sits in the heart of downtown Austin. It is the first mass-timber, boutique hotel constructed in North America. The structural system reduces the energy of the structural components by using renewable materials and limits the carbon use intensity during the construction process by drastically shortening construction time. The 5-building complex was designed around the existing Live Oak heritage trees, which become the focal points for outdoor gathering spaces and private suite gardens. All rainwater on site will be collected in underground cisterns and will be used to meet all irrigation demands for the landscape, which emulates the spring fed rivers in the Hill Country around Austin. The hotel includes a ground floor restaurant, swimming pool, outdoor pool bar, and event space that all integrate into the central courtyard terraces. Hotel occupants access their rooms via large, outdoor wooden porches, encouraging occupants to spend time outdoors and to engage with other hotel guests.
To see more photos, click here to go to the project page on our website.
Finally... check out this new Dezeen article, by Jane Englefeild, on Hotel Magdalena:
Fun stuff!
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