Heather Gayle Holdridge's picture

Walk and Roll Champions

Lake|Flato participated in AACOG's Walk & Roll Challenge again this year. During September and October, the last two months of the "ozone season” when air pollution tends to be the worst in the San Antonio area, teams collectively recorded more than 167,000 walking, biking, busing, or carpooling trips that saved over 2.8 million vehicle miles traveled and kept nearly 4.5 tons of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (the components of ozone or “smog”). Lake|Flato won 2nd place for the small organization category and will be recognized at an awards ceremony next month. Thanks to...
grahambeach's picture

Craft Call: Garza Design+Build

"My admiration for Jamey Garza's many talents goes back to the many, many, walk throughs we did together with Liz and Fletcher while planning the rooms at the Hotel San Jose. It was exhausting work but, we made it fun. With Liz and Fletcher's constant prodding we must have covered every possible furnishing configuration. While our pursuit of a particular balance and comfort lead us down many divergent paths Jamey's careful eye and attention to detail lead to a set of elegantly constructed pieces of wood and steel that highlighted the nature of materials and the careful hand of a true...
vyuan's picture

Digital Pin-Up: Epoch Winery

Epoch Wines recently acquired a historic property in Templeton, CA as the location for their new hospitality center and production facility. The York Mountain Winery has a long and storied history in the region, and particular significance for the owners of Epoch. Our scheme brings new life to the original earthquake-damaged winery as the new tasting room. A full reconstruction celebrates the original timber and masonry structure while introducing a new roof system to streamline the massing. The design aims to maintain the spirit of an agrarian structure that is subservient to the landscape...
samhpepper's picture

Night School, Volume 1: Minimum

Is this the next big thing? Yesterday evening a large group gathered in an empty apartment unit in Southtown to mark the beginning of NightSchool. The objective: to broaden our knowledge of subjects removed from our regular routines and through discussion better understand one another. Food and drink play a significant role—members must provide something for everyone else to enjoy. Each month, a different member hosts Night School and they determine the theme. David and I launched the series with minimum. David and I sought a theme which could be applied to anything. As architects we are of...
rbruce's picture

TSA Sessions by Lake Flatonians

At the recent Texas Society of Architects annual convention in Dallas, four people from Lake Flato presented sessions on an array of topics. Here's a look at what they covered: Bob Harris : Balancing Design and Sustainability What makes a sustainable building an excellent building? “People don’t love buildings or places because they are non-toxic and biodegradable, they love them because they speak to the head and the heart”. But, what does it mean for a building to speak to the heart… why is it that people find certain environmental conditions innately attractive and what does this tell us...
cleamon's picture

When Designers Dress Up

Happy Halloween! 1) The Royal Tenenbaums 2) Filled and "Phil'd" regions 3) The Bride from Kill Bill 4) Door Matt 5) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 6) Angler Fish 7) Dracula 8) Jersey Shore kid 9) 60's typist 10) Snoopy and Charlie Brown 11) Waldo
jsmith's picture

Attention Shoppers: LF Designed Grocery to Open

We completed the schematic design for the store which will open before thanksgiving and HEB's team took it through construction documents. The 70,000 sf store is located in the Montrose neighborhood near the Menil Collection. The design fits into the chic surroundings while preserving the large live oak trees on site. Photos of the store can be found here . Experience the store and shop at 1716 West Alabama Street Houston, TX. This is the second HEB we have collaborated on in Houston. The 70,000 sf Buffalo Market was completed in August of 2009 and incorporates a butterfly roof as well as...
rbruce's picture

Taco Truck in the ArtPace Courtyard

The Friday lunch at the Tacomiendo Taco Truck at Art Pace tradition continued today, but not without a peculiar twist... The Tacomiendo was parked in the courtyard! Due to this odd location and the Metro Health official that was parked where the taco truck is usually stationed, I can't help but conclude this must be part of San Antonio's law that prohibits food trucks parked on commercial property from vending within 300 feet of a restaurant without written, notarized permission from the restaurant. The San Antonio Express News had an article recently describing all the issues mobile food...
vyuan's picture

Better Know an LFer: Heather Holdridge

Get to know our staff, updated weekly. Hometown: Houston Years at LF: 3 Achilles Heel: "Law & Order: SVU" TV marathons Happiest Place: Long, unhurried brunches with shaded outdoor seating - with lots of espresso and mimosas Memorable Book: My toddler can't get enough of The Little Composter. I've read it to her so many times that I can recite it with my eyes closed. Prized Possession: Wedding ring Current Obsession: Fleetwood Mac Last Accomplishment: Replicating Jennifer Young's margarita recipe Favorite Thing about San Antonio: Lake|Flato Fate or Chance? Chance.
thomasjohnston's picture

New Precedent!

Look out, we’ve got some new forms coming your way! Lake/Flato Architects is known for using traditional vernacular forms as a basis for its body of regionally-specific, yet modern, architecture. On a recent tour of LF ranches, we discovered some striking new roof shapes in San Saba, Texas. As the creep of suburbia’s tendrils have left virtually no area untouched, we find that forms traditionally associated with strip mall chic are becoming more and more rooted in these places. How long until we consider these things part of a regional style? We think that time is now. So first up on our...

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