Dezeen profiled the recently completed Waterline, the tallest tower in Texas, sharing insights from KPF President & Principal James von Klemperer and Director Andrew Klare.
Waterline “restores your faith in the urban agenda of development” says Jamie. “It’s not often or always that a tall building is also seen as a kind of supple building that is good for the community.”
Waterline overlooks Austin’s Lady Bird Lake and embraces its natural surroundings through form and expression, taking inspiration from its namesake. The project continues public walkways from the adjacent park into the tower’s multi-leveled ground plane, and the podium conforms to the bend of Waller Creek with a gentle curve of the western elevation. Defined by sculptural columns and infused with natural elements such as stone and greenery, the pedestrian realm is activated by retail spaces, restaurants, and outdoor areas for interaction.
As the tower ascends, its program shifts from hospitality in the base to office in the middle and residences in the upper levels, with each program separated by a layer of expressive columns. “From an office grid to the residential grid, those misalignments along the perimeter were actually beneficial for getting a better column placement in the residential above,” says Andrew. This motif “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,” he continues.
From its “cowboy boot” form to its oak-inspired columns, the article digs into the design details that root Waterline in its Texas context. Working with landscape architecture studio TBG Partners, the design team shaped a stepped podium rising from the water’s edge, creating what Jamie calls a space for “urban drama.” Together, these details reflect a broader approach: a supertall tower shaped as much by its site as by its program.
