Conceived as a modern farm complex in northern California, the Yee Residence is designed to maximize both views and breezes. Structures are independent of the main barn to accentuate a farm-like complex. Different buildings, and a dry stacked-stone wall, form a sanctuary within a landscape of rolling hills and oak groves. Click to Read More
“Awino. A name that has something to do with an umbilical cord wrapped around somebody’s neck at birth, but not at her neck… maybe it was her dad’s? It’s hard to keep all her stories straight, but I sure did enjoy listening to them while working with her over the last 8 months. I knew as soon as I started giving her random tasks that Hellen with two l’s was smart and talented enough to tackled anything that I threw her way, but what really made her a pleasure to work with was her wonderful attitude and glowing smile that we all came to love. Click to Read More
We’re happy to introduce our newest Project Director, Michael Britt. Before joining us in San Antonio, Michael worked in Charlottesville where he also attended the University of Virginia for his M.Arch. He was a project manager for EcoMod, affordable and sustainable housing, which was recently featured in Architect Magazine. Click to Read More
I have been playing with a new technology that could change how we visualize our built environment. It is called ReCap Photo. This is an online image based modeling tool that is currently offered by Autodesk for free. The idea is very simple. You take a series of images around an object or a building, upload the images via the website, using the cloud computing technology and the images will be converted to a 3 dimensional object for you. Click to Read More
Ever since Herzog & De Meuron’s De Yong Museum and Thom Mayne’s San Francisco Federal Building, perforated sheet metal has been all the rage. There are plenty of strong opinions on the aesthetic merits of perforated metal, but we are more interested in looking at it from a performance standpoint. Specifically, we wanted to know the effects of a perforated metal canopy on the comfort of those sitting below. Click to Read More
The yearly Trans-Pecos Festival of Music + Love is coming to El Cosmico in Marfa Thursday September 12 to Sunday September 15, 2013. I have had the pleasure of attending the 2006 and 2007 events. The weekend is filled with new friends, good food, great music, minimalist art, and nomadic dwellings. Whether you are staying in a tent, a yurt, a teepee or one of the refurbished travel trailers you are bound to have a good time. Click to Read More
Our newest interns are joining us just in time for Flake Lato this weekend, where they’ll get to know their fellow LFers really well and in a short amount of time. Here’s what we know about our newest recruits so far: Click to Read More
Last weekend several of us had the unique opportunity to witness, as guests with EarthShare of Texas, the nightly feeding exodus of Mexican Freetail bats from their roost at Bracken Cave. Located just north of our home base in San Antonio, the cave is managed by Bat Conservation International, a wonderful group working to educate people and protect bats. Lake|Flato is a proud contributor to the EarthShare of Texas workplace giving program, which in turn benefits hundreds of local conservation efforts like BCI. Click to Read More
What happens when you drive a metal screw through an insulated wall? It is well known that the assembly U-Value will decrease due to thermal bridging, but over all, how much of an effect can one screw really have? Click to Read More
Just this year, the W Hotel in Austin became home to its own urban apiary, or collection of beehives. The colonies, which are maintained by the non-profit Central Texas Bee Rescue, are located on the rooftop of the 39th floor where they are expected to produce 100-200 pounds of honey annually. Their hard work is already featured on the hotel’s food and drink menus as well as in the spa. Click to Read More