Project Details
- Project Name
- West Campus Residence
- Architect
- Mell Lawrence Architects
- Project Types
- Single Family
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 1,922 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2018
- Shared by
- Wanda Lau
- Project Status
- Built
This project was selected as a Merit winner in the 2021 Residential Architect Design Awards, Architecture Interiors category.
"This house is small, but its interior flow, light, privacy, storage, and public and private spaces are all accomplished with a deft hand.” —Ingrid Spencer
Constrained by mature oaks and property setbacks, the net-zero West Campus Residence squeezes into one of the densest neighborhoods of Austin, Texas. Designed by Alterstudio and Mell Lawrence Architects for one of Alterstudio’s architects and their five-member family, the two-story, 1,922-square-foot residence delivers an efficient and cost-effective space that is in harmony with its surroundings. The interior invites in the outdoors through extensive first-floor glazing, skylights, and a second-floor porch that engages with the street.
The first level flows in a series of linked common spaces demarcated by thoughtful, pragmatic elements such as floor-to-ceiling operable oak screens and panels that hide storage and utilities. The integration of IKEA cabinetry with custom light fixtures throughout, including in the four bedrooms, stretches the budget without compromising the spirit of the aesthetic. And, by collaborating with mechanical engineers and solar designers, the studio achieved a smaller environmental footprint through details such as solar panels covering two-thirds of the roof.
Particularly lovely moments occur where a slatted oak screen reveals a staircase—as if it were an anticipated guest—and where a warm wood panel faces off against a lacquered steel one.
PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: West Campus Residence, Austin, Texas
Client: Ernesto Cragnolino and Krista Whitson
Architects: Alterstudio Architecture, Mell Lawrence Architects
Architect of Record: Ernesto Cragnolino and Krista Whitson
Landscape Architect: Word + Carr
Interior Designer: Alterstudio Architecture
Structural Engineer: Dennis Duffy, P.E., Duffy Engineering, Inc.
Mechanical Engineer: Kristof Irwin, Positive Energy
Civil Engineer: Kurt Prossner, PE, Prossner and Associates, Inc.
Geotechnical Engineer: Nicholas F. Kauffman, MS, PE, Capital Geotechnical Services
General Contractor: Alex Ferdman, Green Places
Size: 1,922 square feet
Cost: $287 per square foot
Materials and Sources:
Appliances: GE Appliances, Best, Whirlpool, Bosch
Concrete: Alviter Concrete Services
Electrical: GingerLux Electric
Exterior Wall Systems: Iron Wood, Mason’s Mill
Flooring: Mason’s Mill
Glass: Marble Falls Glass & Mirror
HVAC: Indoor Weather Professionals
Insulation: Cool Insulation
Lighting: Soraa, Liton, Nuvo, Panasonic
Masonry/Stone: Dupont Corian
Metal: Flexospan, Kloeckner
Millwork: IKEA
Paints/Finishes: Ameripolish, Permalac
Photovoltaics/Other Renewables: Lighthouse
Plumbing/Water System: Dupont Corian, Hansgrohe, Kraus, American Standrad, Insinkerator, Grohe, Duravit, NDS, Rinnai, Product Preserver, Sioux Chef
Roofing: State Capital Roofing
Wallcoverings: Daltile, Mission Stone and Tile, Dupont Corian
Walls: BMC, Mason's Mill
Windows/Curtainwalls/Doors: Maverick (exterior doors), BMC (interior door), Centex (windows)