SPACES WORK LIVE LEARN HEAL
MAXIMIZING PERFORMANCE
Block 21 doesn’t leave much to be desired, environmentally speaking. The urban site, a former parking lot that eventually was deemed a brownfield, was developed with low-impact strategies, and the building features recycled-content, regionally sourced and manufactured, and low-emitting construction materials. Low-flow fixtures have resulted in 30 percent reduced indoor water use compared to code, representing an annual savings of 2.4 million gallons. Such success is never attributable to a single person, but according to Andersson-Wise principal Chris Wise, one woman in particular played a crucial role when it came to performance. Gail Vittori, codirector of the nearly 40-year-old Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS), a nonprofit that specializes in life cycle planning and design, was brought in as a consultant on the project. “Early on, it
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was clear that Block 21 would raise the bar on green, urban, mixed-use buildings,” says Vittori, who runs CMPBS with husband and architect Pliny Fisk III. “CMPBS’s role was to help establish a vision for the project and to work with the teams in place and the owner to create clear goals around the building’s performance. This is something we’re still working on because it goes beyond the design of the building; it’s about operating green as well.” Unlike Vittori, for many working on the team, Block 21 was their first LEED project and at just more than a million square feet, it was an undertaking, requiring collaboration every step of the way. Vittori was critical to that process. “Getting Gail involved was the first collaborative step,” Wise says. “She was the go-to sustainable expert, and we were there to listen. When you do a project like this, it takes thousands of people to make it a reality. The design
ABOVE The southwest corner of the building is cut away to reveal a staircase that extends from the hotel’s open-air bar. The building’s dark gray palette helps temper any glare created by the Texas sun. OPPOSITE TOP The building includes a 2,700-seat music venue for Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theater. OPPOSITE BOTTOM The landscaped public plaza allows open airflow from Lady Bird Lake to the W Hotel’s outdoor bar and restaurant area.
team alone had hundreds of people. You have to be able to listen and know how to collaborate.” Andersson says the project also was a collaboration with the environment and the “reality of the site.” One block south of Block 21 is Lady Bird Lake, and the site is often hit with breezes traveling all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, which can change the temperature substantially depending on the season and time of day. According to the architect, taking the location and this variability into account did more than benefit the performance of the building—it also inspired the team. KEEP AUSTIN GENUINE
Andersson-Wise wanted its approach to the design to unfold organically, but as is the case with any major brand, there were design requirements in place by Starwood Hotels, the company that owns W Hotels. Andersson recalls being handed a three-inch-thick packet of gbdmagazine.com