This is East Village Lofts in the Revitalization District of East 11th Street in Austin, Texas. The structure, designed by Bercy Chen Studio, makes a bold statement about the intersection of art and sustainability with a multifaceted facade of colorful steel panels. The panels, as you would imagine, double as a shade device and guardrails for condo balconies.
Alan Stulberg, a vintage motorcycle builder and mechanic, has been thinking about this project for nearly six years. Deciding to take the plunge, he drew a rough sketch one day and five months later, here’s the Studio Pod. Stulberg built the container studio in his backyard in Austin, Texas, and it’s now being used as a creative artist space.
This home, designed by Ben Obregon and built by Bill Taute Homes, recently hit the market in Bouldin Creek for $725,000. If you’re in the area and the pending contract doesn’t close, you could find yourself in a contemporary, low-energy home powered by rooftop solar photovoltaics for something near that price.
We like to keep a pulse on the evolving world of green prefab, but there’s an Austin-based company that we’ve yet to mention. Ma Modular, a venture of design-build firm KRDB, turned to modular construction to make modern design approachable, affordable, and convenient. The company is also committed to good design and green building and aims to deliver projects with a quick turnaround.
Mark Meyer of Austin-based designSTUDIO recently pointed us to one of his newest projects, la Boite. La Boite is a green, environmentally sensitive cafe with locally baked goods, sandwiches, and coffee. It was built from an old shipping container, and if you’re interested in details of the transformation, read more about it on designSTUDIO’s blog. For the project, DesignSTUDIO used Rainwater HOG’s for greywater collection, biobased spray foam insulation, and Forbo linoleum for the floor and one wall. You can find la Boite on 1700 South Lamar Boulevard in Austin, Texas. Looks fun, doesn’t it?
