In today's post I want to share one of my favorite Lake|Flato projects, Confluence Park here in San Antonio, Texas. From Biomimicry, to POE, to an AIA Institute Honor Award, this project has a lot of exciting features to share.
Nestled along the San Antonio River, and about four miles south of our downtown San Antonio office, is Confluence Park. From here, you can walk or ride a bike for miles along the river. In addition to what I share below, you can learn more about this project on the firm's website: Confluence Park project page.
It is one of my favorite projects, partly/probably, because I have experienced it the most. Plus, in addition to the building and pavillion, there are lots of plantings with plaques describing everything (see photo below, from January 2020). I spend a lot of time in my backyard taking care of my plants, so this is very interesting to me... being new to Texas:)
Lake|Flato worked closely with Matsys on this project. Learn more about them and this project, with lots more photos here: https://www.matsys.design/confluence-park
Vimeo Video
Check out this great video about the project: Nature as Inspiration: Confluence Park, which features firm partner Tenna Florian.
Video description:
Confluence Park is a living laboratory that allows visitors to gain a greater understanding of the ecotypes of the South Texas region and the function of the San Antonio River watershed. Throughout the park, visitors learn through observation, engagement and active participation. Located at the confluence of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek, the idea of confluence is ingrained in every aspect— from big gestures like the landform of the park representing the convergence of ecotypes in the South Texas region, to the pavilion “petals” imitating the form of plants that are structured to funnel dew and rainwater to their roots, down to the scale of the paver patterns reminiscent of the flow and confluence of waterways. https://vimeo.com/601073302
As discussed in the video, the shape of the pavillion elements were inspired by nature, and are used to collect water which is stored in a cistern.
Tip: click to enlarge photos
Post occupancy Evaluation (POE)
Like many of our projects, we are tracking energy usage at this location. Here are a few stats from the project to-date. I recently took a trip to the project site to help do some troubleshooting when the monitoring system went offline... I am pictured with project architect Sunnie Diaz and Design Performance Coordinator, Kate Sector.
Professional Photos
Here are some amazing professional photographs by Casey Dunn.
January 2020 LF Interview Trip
Here are several photos I took in January 2020, when I came to San Antonio to interview at Lake Flato.
Recent Family Visit
Here are a few evening photos I took during a recent visit with my family...
Awards
This project has already won some prestigious awards, including an AIA Institute Honor Award.
- 2020 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award
- 2019 AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture
- 2019 Texas Society of Architects Design Award
- 2019 Texas ASLA Award of Excellence
- 2019 San Antonio Business Journal Community Impact Award
- 2018 Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Award in Infrastructure
- 2018 AIA San Antonio Honor Award
- 2018 TiltUp Achievement Award
- 2018 Architizer A+ Jury Award Cultural Pavilions
- 2016 Texas Architects Studio Award
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