New Car2Go HQ will be another Austin first

Correction: This article was originally published on June 22, 2018. It has been corrected to clarify that 901E6 was designed by THOUGHTBARN/Delineate Studio, not by Hacker Architects and laukgroup. The latter designed the finish-out of the Car2Go space only. The article below, originally published on June 22, has been corrected accordingly.

Car2go, the car-sharing company that opened its North American headquarters in Austin in 2009, announced this month that it will be moving those operations to a new building under construction at 901 East Sixth Street. In addition to lending some shape and definition to the developing area near Plaza Saltillo, the building will represent the debut of an innovative new material in Austin commercial construction.

Designed by local partnership architecture office THOUGHTBARN/Delineate Studio, the building will be constructed largely of cross-laminated timber (CLT). The layered-wood material is considered green and sustainable, as well as providing more design and construction flexibility (parts of buildings can be prefabricated, saving on materials and site disruption). It also provides a high level of thermal insulation and, as the officially named 901E6 website notes, “offers a sense of warmth and authenticity of an older building mixed with state of the art design and new technologies.”

The five-story, 125,000-square-foot office building is constructed with an exposed steel frame and CLT floor decks, according to the THOUGHTBAR/Delineate website, which adds that “the raw wood/steel interior, reminiscent of early 20th century warehouses, is complimented by an exterior cladding of tapered mild steel that will patina over time.” The lobby opens to the street with a large, bifold door, and there are wraparound balconies at the second level. Endeavor Real Estate, which is also developing Plaza Saltillo, is overseeing construction.

Thoughtbarn/Delineate Studio courtesy of Car2Go (all renderings)

Courtesy of Car2Go

Courtesy of Car2Go

Hacker Architects, based in Portland, Oregon, and Austin-based lauckgroup (now part of Perkins + Will) designed the interiors of the 28,500-square-foot Car2Go space, for which the company has signed an eight-year lease for a 28,500-square-foot space in the building. The offices will accommodate 140 employees at capacity, according to its press statement.

The headquarters will serve more than one million U.S. and Canadian customers, it adds. While the company looks to expand to Chicago this year, it announced that the move to East Sixth Street reaffirms its commitment to the city and its employees. Relocating in a downtown-adjacent area will also make more commuting options available for its employees; it’s near a rail stop, currently in scooter- and bike-share land, and is walkable or bikeable from central and east Austin locations, as well as convenient I-35. Car2Go is currently headquartered on West Sixth Street; it expects to move into its new space by the end of the year.