Transforming a Ruin into a Catalyst for Community
The Austin Ave project demonstrates how carefully adding mixed-use density can reenergize and connect parts of the city over time. This adaptive re-use project involves adding retail & restaurant space on the ground floor and basement, co-working space on the mezzanine, and living units with roof deck above – creating a true mixed-use stack on a compact site.
-
Project Name
Austin AveLocation
Waco, TXGround
UrbanType
Adaptive Re-useSize
14,000 sfServices
Preliminary DesignStatus
In-Progress -
Design Architect
Firmah
Downtown Waco is home to many historic buildings that are now being restored and brought back into use. At the corner of Austin Ave and 7th Street is a former department store that has fallen into disrepair over recent decades. The historic shell of the building is intact, but the interior structure was so degraded that it needed to be fully removed. Our design proposes a new mass timber “skeleton” to be inserted into the shell as a dynamic, “living” infrastructure for the mixed programs possible within.
The new timber structure exposes the original deco murals along the back wall of the space. In section, the infill floors pull back from the facade to allow light and interaction between levels and program. Seperate entry is allowed for residents vs visitors, but the choreography of movement and visibility between user groups further amplifies the sense of this place as a micro-version of the growing city beyond, a potential future vision for a more densely used downtown.
