Project Details
- Project Name
- UpCycle
- Architect
- Gensler
- Project Types
- Commercial
- Project Scope
- Adaptive Reuse
- Size
- 81,711 sq. feet
- Shared by
- Hanley Wood
- Project Status
- Built
Expanded Coverage of the 2020 COTE Top 10 Awards appeared in the October 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.
This recycling center–turned-office was designed to reuse 95% of the original structure, saving 1,824 metric tons of carbon emissions—a 76% reduction in embodied energy.
What were some of the design goals for the project?
Travis Albrecht, AIA, studio director: One was the reuse of the building—that was a parameter from the beginning. As surprising as it is to say that an old metal shed would be fantastic for an office, trying to maintain that character was a big design driver. The other was making the building more engaging. It started off as a manufacturing building and ended up as a building for sorting piles of trash. The path to transformation was: How do you keep the recognition that this was an old warehouse, but make it light-filled and approachable—like it is meant for humans rather than trash and trucks?
How were sustainable strategies integrated into the design process?
The first was reuse: We reused not just the structure and roof decking, but old exhaust fans, the existing metal skin, artwork that we found inside the space—reuse was throughout. Another one was daylight: A lot of our interventions involved setbacks to create outdoor porches, which allowed us to have covered and shaded big windows. The pop-ups down the center of the building were all about bringing in an abundance of natural light.
How did the focus on materials reuse influence your design process?
I learned a lot about keeping an open mind to what can be reused and how. Pretty much every component we had, we thought about: Could we reuse this? Is this something that could be put somewhere else in the building?
Is it a planter, a piece out in the landscape, or something in the lobby? Whenever the contractor was demo-ing components and things that we couldn’t technically reuse, they took them down and then sent them home either with somebody who collects and resells them, or with local craftspeople whom we know to contact. A lot of it got picked up that way.
What do you think is the most innovative sustainable aspect of this project?
The idea of repurposing buildings to save on the embodied carbon and on all the energy that goes into producing the materials that make buildings—we will probably see a lot more of that. It’s a conversation that we’re starting to have more and more with our clients. Do you have to do a new building? Could you redevelop rather than finding a fresh site or tearing something down to build something that feels foreign to the neighborhood? What I appreciated about this project was that it’s adaptive reuse, but it’s a bit different. A lot of times when people think adaptive reuse, they think of full-on preservation. Being able to think through the creative reuse, to transform and reuse at the same time, was pretty incredible.
What was your favorite lesson learned from this project?
Not to say no. Being open-minded enough to see what’s there and explore it.
Metrics Snapshot:
RESOURCES
Mandatory Metrics
CO₂ intensity: Because of reuse, only added 601 metric tons of embodied CO₂ (out of 2,425 metric tons total in the project)
Estimated carbon emissions associated with building construction: 16 pounds CO₂ per square foot
For the full list of metrics, visit aia.org.
Project Credits
Project: UPCycle
Location: 2416 East 6th Street, Austin, TX 78702
Client/Owner: EverWest Real Estate Partners
Architect: Gensler, Austin, Texas. Travis Albrecht, AIA, (design principal, project director and manager), Christopher Curson, Christina Clark (project team)
Interior Designer: Gensler
Structural Engineer: Cardno
M/E/P Engineer: Integral Group
Civil Engineer: Jones|Carte
Geotechnical Engineer: ECS Southwest
Construction Manager: American Realty Project Management
General Contractor: The Burt Group
Landscape Architect: Big Red Sun
Modeler: Integral Group
Commissioning Agent: Integral Group
Owner Project Manager: Curt Kremer (George Oliver Companies)
Size: 81,711 square feet
Cost: Withheld
Materials and Sources
Metal panels: Kingspan KarrierPanel (Insulated metal panels), Centria Ecoscreen ¾” Econolap (Perforated Metal Panel)
Metal/glass curtain wall: US Aluminum 3250 Wall
Wood: Trestlewood Reclaimed Wood
Other cladding unique to this project: Composite deck boards – Fiberon Symmetry Decking
Built-up roofing: Carlisle Sure-Weld TPO
Windows: US Aluminum IT451 (Metal frame)
Glazing: PPG Solarban 70 XL (glass), Skyco Skylights – Skypro Illuminator (skylight),
Entrances: US Aluminum 550 Wide Stile, US Aluminum 400 Medium Stile
Metal doors: Curries
Special doors: Overhead Rolling Door: Cookson, Glazed Garage Door: C.H.I. Overhead Doors
Locksets: Schlage
Closers: Falcon
Exit devices: Von Duprin
Pulls: Rockwood by Assa Abloy
Security devices: Von Duprin
Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Nagelhout & Co.
Paints and stains: Sherwin Williams
Plastic laminate: Formica Laminate
Solid surfacing: Dupont Zodiaq Quartz, Cambrian Black Satin Granite
Floor and wall tile: Design Materials – Prima, Design and Direct Source – Penny Glazed
Special interior finishes unique to this project: Custom Blackened Steel Panels, Custom Graffiti Art - SprATX
Chairs: Forward Tilt: From the Source New York Perch; Hightower Nadia; Room and Board Lars; Loewenstein Hinchada; Industry West McQueen; Bernhardt Oslo; Grand Rapids Chair Co Harper; Gunlocke Convo Stool; FTSNY Grasshopper Bench
Tables: Forward Tilt: FTSNY Starfish Slab Table; DWR T.710; Concrete Pig Harlan 1; OFS Riff Table; Industry West Helix Bar Table
Upholstery: Camira, Bernhardt Focus, Architex
Other furniture: Custom Steel Ping Pong Table:
Lighting: Gotham, Lithonia Lighting, Winona, Fixt Electric, Elliptipar, Finelite, Tivoli
Dimming system or other lighting controls: Acuity Controls
Elevators/escalators: Schindler Group
Plumbing: Kohler, Elkay
Energy management or building automation system: Trane
Project Description
This project is a winner of a 2020 AIA COTE Top Ten Award.
From the AIA:
UPCycle transforms the former Balcones Recycling Center into a unique creative office building in the historic community of East Austin, Texas. Rather than building anew, the client prioritized adaptive reuse to help preserve and improve the neighborhood character and honor existing resources. The main design question was, how do you maintain the look and feel of the building's industrial past but make it suitable for office use and recognizable as a place for people?
The word upcycle embodies the design approach for this project.
What was an opaque, uninviting warehouse is now a light-filled creative office building. What was once a mere metal shed is now a comfortable and efficient space that encourages interaction and connection between the tenants and the surrounding neighborhood.
The design of the building and spaces is tailored to the creative tech community that values flexibility, openness, culture, and collaboration. The design was successful in attracting the digital division of HEB (a regional grocer) and Favor (an online food delivery service) as their new headquarters. This project has created a new model for HEB's real estate portfolio and represents a change in culture for the corporate firm.
The existing building, which had sat idle for many years, was partly covered in graffiti and had been used for various graffiti art exhibitions. During the renovation, the team found and hired these and other local artists to create an interior aesthetic consistent with the character of East Austin. The vibrant colors of the art that adorn the existing structure enliven the former industrial space and celebrate the past.
The team's approach to materials, daylight, social space, and efficient systems resulted in a place that is rooted in the past but looks forward into the future.