The 1,025-foot mixed-use tower extends the Waterloo Greenway into a new ground-floor promenade, anchoring Texas’s tallest building in the urban fabric.
KPF is pleased to announce the completion of Waterline, a sweeping mixed-use building that provides a new landmark on the Austin skyline while integrating the city’s public realm into its base.
Developed by Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential, Waterline sits along Waller Creek at the edge of Lady Bird Lake, combining residential, hospitality, office, retail, and public space in a single tower. The project extends public walkways from the adjacent Waterloo Greenway into a multi-level ground plane known as the Paseo connecting directly to Austin’s first light rail line and the Rainey Street District.
View and download photos drawings of Waterline here.
“We wanted the tallest tower in Texas to be an urban activator,” said James von Klemperer FAIA RIBA, KPF President and Design Principal. “By designing the base of the building as an open framework, we allowed the surrounding neighborhood to connect to the greenway and the lake beyond. The widely varied uses above add to that mixing chamber effect.”
“The completion of Waterline marks a major milestone for KPF’s work in Texas,” said Forth Bagley AIA, KPF Principal. “We are practicing at a range of scales and typologies, partnering with visionary clients like Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential to elevate the urban fabric of cities across the state, and we are proud to bring this model of vertical mixed-use urbanism to Austin.”
“The idea was simple: let the experience of Waterloo Greenway and Waller Creek shape the entire building, from its massing to its details,” said Andrew Klare AIA, KPF Director. “It begins with the public landscape beneath the tower and continues upward through a series of terraces that become new ground planes for the 1 Hotel, offices, and residences.”
“Waterline’s mix of residences, hotel, and office within a single tower is unusual in the U.S.,” said Franz Prinsloo AIA, KPF Director. “Delivering it at this scale took real coordination across the client, our design consultants, and the construction team from day one. Everyone was committed to the architecture and the urban vision of the project, and we worked seamlessly together to deliver this new typology to Austin.”
Waterline’s form is bifurcated to accommodate changes in program, with indoor and outdoor amenities that draw the creek’s natural language up into the building. The primarily horizontal façade, modulated by vertical elements, gives the tower a stacked, striated profile that leans away from the water as it rises. The podium curves to follow Waller Creek’s western bend and houses hotel and parking components, with deep balconies broken into playful partitions animating the base of the tower.
The project includes Austin’s first 1 Hotel, along with premium office space, ground-floor retail, and residential units with access to sky gardens and a crown-level amenity floor featuring water features and co-working space. Waterline is pursuing LEED Gold and Well V2 certifications.
With the completion of Waterline, KPF’s presence in Texas continues to expand. Work is underway on One Lady Bird Lake in Austin and the Bank of America Tower at Parkside in Dallas is slated for completion next year, signaling the firm’s deepening commitment to the state’s fastest-growing markets. Elsewhere, KPF’s 520 Fifth Avenue brings a new mixed-use supertall to Midtown in New York City, while in Shenzhen, TP-LINK LXD recently reached completion with a unique form that provides indoor/outdoor space throughout.
