Andersson-Wise, the internationally lauded, Austin-based architectural firm responsible for such notable local projects as Block 21/W Austin (including the ACL at the Moody Theater) and the Topfer Theatre at Zach Scott, will apply its estimable design sensibilities to the $11 million redevelopment of a former state building a few blocks from the state Capitol.
Dallas-based Prescott Group and an institutional investment partner recently purchased the office building at 316 West 12th Street from the Texas State Teachers Association, its original owner since 1952.
Andersson-Wise’s plans call for adding a floor to half the building, thereby expanding rentable square footage by 26,000 square feet; adding a rooftop terrace, conference room, fitness facility, showers and lockers, indoor bike storage, and a landscaped courtyard built around a 100-year-old Live Oak Tree; and Incorporating approximately 2,000 square feet of space for an on-site restaurant.
The firm also plans on maximizing views of the Capitol and Hill Country by expanding glass walls on the east and west facades (the latter seeming a little troublesome, in terms of summer sunlight and heat). It will also modernize the core and shell with all new windows and curtain wall, interiors, restrooms, and elevators.
Prescott will change the building’s name to Westview and looks to provide nearly 100,000 square feet of Class A office space inside. Construction begins October 10.